World AIDS Day is a moment to honour over 40 million lives lost to AIDS, take stock of the AIDS response, and commit to ending AIDS.

This week we launched a powerful new report, Dangerous Inequalities. In it, we called the world’s attention to a painful reality: currently, we are not on track to end AIDS by 2030, and the reason is inequality.

But there is good news: by equalizing, we can end AIDS.

Firstly:

We must equalize for women and girls to reduce their HIV risks.

In sub-Saharan Africa, adolescent girls and young women are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys and men of the same age. The driving factor is inequality.

Enabling girls to stay in school until they complete secondary education reduces their vulnerability to HIV infection by up to 50%. When we include comprehensive sexuality education and other measures for girls’ empowerment then their risk is reduced even further. That is why 12 African countries have come together in the Education Plus Initiative, supported by the United Nations to make this happen.

Beyond this, we must combine services for sexual and reproductive health together with services for preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence and HIV.

They must be designed to work for all women and girls, in all their diversity.

We must equalize for marginalised people.

Discrimination against marginalised people is hurting the HIV response. Globally, gay men and other men who have sex with men are 28 times more likely to be infected with HIV. People who inject drugs have 35 times the risk, sex workers 30 times the risk, and transgender women 14 times the risk.

We will not end AIDS unless we can end it for everyone.

The evidence is clear: when you decriminalise, people will come forward for services. Decriminalisation saves lives.

Here are two examples:

In South Africa, where same sex relationships are legal, gay men are 60% more likely to be living with HIV but in Uganda where gay men are criminalized, they are 240% more likely.

In Thailand, where same sex relationships are legal, gay men are 11-times more likely to living with HIV than other men, but in Malaysia where gay men are criminalized, they are 72-times more likely.

But here is the good news. There is a growing momentum from Asia to Africa to the Caribbean, for decriminalizing same sex relationships. In recent years, Angola, Bhutan, and Botswana. In the past few months alone, St. Kitts and Nevis, Singapore, Antigua and Barbuda. In 68 countries these laws still exist. Let’s consign these harmful and colonial laws to history.

But we don’t only need to decriminalise, we need to fight stigma.

Stigma is the sentence passed by society on people for who they are. And it kills.

We need to end stigma for people living with HIV and for marginalised communities. We need every leader – political leaders, faith leaders, traditional leaders, cultural leaders.

Rise. Equalize.

Thirdly:

An inequality that breaks my heart is that against children living with HIV. With the science that we have today, no baby should be born with HIV and no child who has HIV should be without treatment. But today, while three quarters of adults living with HIV are on treatment, only half of children are. This is intolerable.

We will not allow this shameful and avoidable injustice to continue. That is why the United Nations, international partners, civil society and governments from the 12 countries with the highest burden have come together and formed the Global Alliance to end AIDS in Children. We are moving. Tanzania will host the official launch early next year.

Lastly and crucially.

To end AIDS, we must tackle the inequalities in resourcing.

The COVID-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine have increased inequality worldwide. Every day, G20 countries receive 136 million dollars in debt repayments from poor countries in the South. Meanwhile in these countries debt repayments are 4 times more than they spend on health and twice what they spend on education. 

In the midst of a crisis of debt, austerity and inequality hitting developing countries, some rich countries have cut back aid for global health and are considering even deeper cuts.

This is not right. Now is not the time to step away, it is the time to step up.

Remember: it is through international solidarity that we reduced inequalities in financing and made amazing gains against AIDS including bringing more than 28 million people onto life-saving treatment. And we must complete the job.

On World AIDS Day, UNAIDS joins with people living with HIV and communities around the world in one shared call to action: Equalize.

Equalize access to rights, equalize access to services, equalize access to resources, equalize access to the best science and medicine.

This is how we will end AIDS.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 25 November 2022—On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, UNAIDS is calling on the world to unite to end gender-based violence in all its forms and to challenge the gender inequities driving the HIV pandemic.

“Violence against women and girls is our individual and collective shame—a gross violation of human rights happening on an epic scale,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “This pandemic of violence continues to drive thousands of new HIV infections every week and is making the end of AIDS much harder to achieve. It is a systemic issue that must be addressed at every level of society.”

Last year, 4900 young women or adolescent girls aged 15—24 became infected with HIV every week. One in three women and adolescent girls around the world have suffered physical and/or sexual violence from their husbands, male partners or strangers. This violence often takes place in their homes and neighbourhoods, where they should be safest. And this staggering statistic doesn’t include the millions more women and girls facing other forms of gender-based violence and harmful practices such as child and forced marriage, female genital mutilation and sexual violence.

In countries with high HIV prevalence, intimate partner violence can increase the chances of women acquiring HIV by up to 50%. Violence or the fear of it blocks women’s access to services and their ability to negotiate condom use with perpetrators, disclose their HIV status or stay on HIV treatment. Keeping girls in school is one way to decrease their exposure to violence and reduces their risk of HIV infection by 50%.

The World Health Organization has named violence against women a global health problem of epidemic proportions. Yet, decades after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted on 10th December 1948 and The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) instituted in 1979—the world is still talking about eliminating violence against women.

Today marks the beginning of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Based Violence whose theme this year is UNITE! Activism to end violence against women and girls.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Responding to the decision of the Russian Duma to pass a further extension of the so-called “LGBTQ propaganda law”, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima reiterated her deep concern about the damaging consequences of such laws for public health.

“In addition to violating the rights of people to autonomy, dignity and equality, and harming the security and general wellbeing of LGBTQ individuals, this decision will seriously hurt public health. It will undermine Russia’s efforts to end AIDS by 2030. Punitive and restrictive laws increase the risk of acquiring HIV and decrease access to services, reduce the ability of service providers, including peer networks, to provide critical sexual and reproductive health information and services, and increase stigma related to sexual orientation. Such laws make it harder for people to protect their health and that of their communities. We urge the repeal of this harmful law.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

UNAIDS Executive Director calls for immediate investment of $35 million in end-of-year funding and a commitment to increase the operating budget to $210 million for 2023

GENEVA, 3 November 2022—Board members of the United Nations Joint Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have met to discuss how to address a $35 million funding gap in the organization’s minimum operating budget of $187 million which is undermining efforts to end the AIDS pandemic as a global health threat by 2030. The budget required to fully meet the organization’s operational needs is set at $210 million.

In his opening remarks at a special meeting held in Geneva to discuss solutions to the funding gap, the Ambassador of Thailand’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Rongvudhi Virabutr, the current chair of UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board, said that the Joint Programme continued to have an important role in data collection and analysis to develop evidence and mobilize political leadership.

“As the largest funder of AIDS responses said earlier this year, the Joint Programme is “the North Star", without which we are all blind. A fully funded and effectively functioning Joint Programme is key to our collective success. We have no time to waste.”

Calling for an immediate release of $35 million in end-of-year funding, UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima said that the organization’s financial position had deteriorated even further since the last meeting of the UNAIDS PCB in June. She said that the war in Ukraine and movements in currency exchange markets had aggravated the situation.

“The size of the budget shortfall means that it cannot be addressed by stretching the budget or finding any more efficiency gains. It is forcing stark choices—a dramatic reduction in UNAIDS country presence or further reductions to our co-sponsors are some of the scenarios,” said Ms Byanyima. “These choices are devastating, and all scenarios will set the global AIDS response back even further by denying HIV prevention, treatment and care services to millions of vulnerable people.”

UNAIDS has taken significant action to resolve the funding gap by instituting budget discipline, developing a new resource mobilization strategy and working closely with a specially appointed task team made up of members of the PCB to come up with actions and recommendations to strengthen the financial position in 2023.

UNAIDS co-sponsors, communities of people living with and affected by HIV and civil society organizations have all called for UNAIDS to be fully funded so it can achieve is vital mission.

“The world is in danger and now our collective efforts in addressing the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating HIV/AIDS as a public health threat is at stake,” said Christian Hui of the Prevention Access Campaign, Canada. “We cannot deny the contribution of the Joint Programme. Civil society, especially marginalised and key populations, have hugely benefited from the Joint Programme to advance access to lifesaving antiretrovirals and to combination prevention, to advance human rights and to empower communities to take an active part in HIV programming.”

Recognizing the complementarity of UNAIDS work, other partners in the HIV response, including the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) have also added their voices for UNAIDS to be fully funded.

UNAIDS is present in 70 countries worldwide working in partnership with governments, civil society and communities, collecting the data that shapes the HIV response, advocating for the reversal of harmful laws and policies to create an enabling legal environment, working for an end to HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and challenging the inequalities driving the HIV pandemic among vulnerable and marginalized groups of people. In 2020-2021, UNAIDS supported more than 80% of applications to the Global Fund, guiding $5 billion in HIV funding.

“We would like to call upon all stakeholders for increased support, coordination and collaboration with UNAIDS to address the unfinished agenda of saving lives and leaving no one behind in our efforts to end AIDS,” said Alegnta Gebreyesus Guntie of the Permanent Mission of Ethiopia to the United Nations Office in Geneva.

“UNAIDS support to countries is on developing data-informed, science-based strategies tailored to the epidemic and developing plans to implement them well,” said Ms. Byanyima. “Now, the work of the Joint Programme is needed more than ever to help countries to be ready for the next round of Global Fund applications in a difficult allocation environment.”

The UNAIDS Global AIDS Update In Danger reveals an HIV response faltering in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global economic crisis, and the war in Ukraine. A total of 650 000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses in 2021 and there were 1.5 million new HIV infections—1 million above the 2020 target of 500 000. New HIV infections increased in 38 countries.

“UNAIDS is working tirelessly to reverse the trend and to get the HIV response back on track.” said Ms. Byanyima.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

The peace agreement will facilitate access to health services including access to HIV services amidst reports of stock-outs of antiretroviral treatment and people going without access to the life-saving medicines

GENEVA, 3 November 2022—UNAIDS welcomes the peace agreement to permanently ‘silence the guns’ and end the conflict in northern Ethiopia. The agreement, facilitated by the African Union as part of its principled position of ‘African solutions to African problems’, was signed by the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Tigray Peoples' Liberation Front on 2 November 2022.

“This is a critical first move that will bring relief and bring hope for the Ethiopian people, particularly the most vulnerable populations including women and children,” said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “This first step will lay the foundations for sustainable peace in the country and facilitate access to life-saving health services, including HIV services, for people affected by the conflict.”

UNAIDS welcomes the Government of Ethiopia’s commitment to “enhance its collaboration with humanitarian agencies to continue expediting aid to all those in need of assistance, to assist all civilians in need, leaving no one behind, and to continue the efforts to restore public services and rebuild the infrastructures of all communities affected by the conflict”.

In 2021 more than 480 000 people living with HIV were on treatment in Ethiopia. Ethiopia was on the right path for a successful response to HIV and was making positive gains towards ending AIDS by 2030, despite some areas still falling behind. However, the conflict has caused major concerns for maintaining and sustaining HIV prevention and treatment efforts in the areas affected by the conflict, putting continued progress on HIV in jeopardy.

Comprehensive access to health care is critical, including HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care services. UNAIDS appeals to the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, and to international partners supporting the peace process, to include HIV services when implementing the peace plan, especially in “rebuilding infrastructures in affected communities and the economic recovery of the country”.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 29 October 2022—Responding to the statement by the Russian government that it intends to extend the so-called “LGBTQ propaganda” law, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima has joined with UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in expressing deep concern.

“Extension of this law,” said Ms Byanyima, “is a further violation of the rights of people to autonomy, dignity and equality. Not only will it harm the security and general wellbeing of LGBTQ individuals, it will have a serious negative impact on people’s health outcomes. The evidence is clear that punitive and restrictive laws, including those restricting free speech, increase the risk of acquiring HIV and decrease access to services. Such laws reduce the ability of service providers, including peer networks, to provide critical sexual and reproductive health information and services, and increase stigma related to sexual orientation, making it harder for people to protect their health and that of their communities. This will undermine Russia’s efforts to end AIDS by 2030. Our call to the Parliament and Government of Russia is to withdraw these harmful proposals and indeed to repeal the existing law. Stigmatising approaches damage public health, perpetuate pandemics and hurt everyone. Social solidarity, inclusion and protecting every person’s human rights are key to ending AIDS and ensuring health for all.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 8 September 2022—UNAIDS warmly welcomes Germany’s pledge of €1.3 billion for the 7th replenishment of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an increase of 30% on the country’s contribution of €1 billion made in 2019. The announcement is a significant step towards reaching the goal of raising at least $18 billion when President Biden hosts the 7th Global Fund Replenishment Conference in New York later this month.

“This announcement demonstrates Germany’s continued leadership in global health, its commitment to multilateralism and its determination to save millions of lives by ending AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria by 2030,” said UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima. “This is an investment in young people’s health and wellbeing—particularly of young women and girls —and it will strengthen global security by instilling resilience into systems needed to protect all of us from emerging health threats. I look forward to other donors matching Germany’s increase in funding.”

The United States is the Global Fund’s largest donor and has pledged $6 billion for the organization’s 7th replenishment contingent on the $18 billion target being fully met. Last week, Japan announced that it was increasing its contribution to the Global Fund by 30% to more than $1 billion.

The Global Fund Replenishment Conference takes place from 19—21 September at a time when funding for the HIV response remains under intense pressure. In 2021, international resources available for HIV were 6% lower than in 2010. Overseas development assistance for HIV from bilateral donors other than the United States has fallen by 57% over the last decade. The HIV response in low- and middle-income countries is US$8 billion short of the US$29 billion needed by 2025 to get the world on track to end the AIDS pandemic as a global health threat by 2030.   

To maximize the effectiveness of their investments to the Global Fund, donors are also being urged to fully fund the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS is present in 70 countries worldwide working in partnership with governments, civil society and communities, collecting the data that shapes the HIV response, advocating for the reversal of harmful laws and policies to create an enabling legal environment, working for an end to HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and challenging the inequalities driving the HIV pandemic among vulnerable and marginalized groups of people.  

UNAIDS latest report In Danger, shows that recent crises have knocked the global AIDS response off track, with HIV infections on the rise in 38 countries. It shows also that the end of AIDS by 2030 is possible, if leaders act boldly together.

The announcement of Germany’s increase was made in Berlin by the Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, at the Get Back On Track international conference organized by civil society organizations, including Action Against AIDS Germany.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said:

“The life of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was one of continuous public service.

Queen Elizabeth II was a great friend of the United Nations and spoke very movingly of its work and its values, including in her famous address to the UN General Assembly in 1957.

Queen Elizabeth II was dedicated to ending AIDS and to ending stigma for people living with HIV. Her visit, during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Uganda in 2007, to Mildmay hospital at which she met with people living with HIV and their families, helped to challenge stigma and to affirm the dignity and rights of all people living with HIV. It helped also to make strengthening the HIV response, centred on the inclusion and rights of communities affected by HIV, core to the agenda of the Commonwealth.

May her example inspire us all. I express my profound condolences to her family, and to the government and people of the United Kingdom and of the countries of the Commonwealth of Nations.”

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 30 August 2022—UNAIDS welcomes a St. Kitts and Nevis High Court ruling that laws criminalizing gay sex are unconstitutional, meaning that they are immediately struck from the legal code. The Court upheld the plaintiffs’ claim that Sections 56 and 57 of the Offences Against the Person Act violated the right to privacy and freedom of expression.

“This landmark ruling is an important step forward in ensuring equality and dignity for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in St. Kitts and Nevis and the whole Caribbean,” said Luisa Cabal, UNAIDS Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. “Today, St. Kitts and Nevis joins a growing list of Caribbean nations that have overturned these colonial-era laws that deny people’s human rights and hold back the response to the HIV pandemic. Everyone benefits from decriminalisation.”

Laws that punish consensual same sex relations, in addition to contravening the human rights of LGBT people, are a significant obstacle to improving health outcomes, including in the HIV response. Such laws help to sustain stigma and discrimination against LGBT people and are barriers to LGBT people seeking and receiving healthcare for fear of being punished or detained. Decriminalisation saves and changes lives.

The claim against the government of St. Kitts and Nevis was brought by a citizen, Jamal Jeffers, and the St. Kitts and Nevis Alliance for Equality, with the support of the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality. The ruling by the High Court follows a similar High Court decision for Antigua and Barbuda in July. Courts in Belize and Trinidad and Tobago have also repealed sections of their legal codes that criminalized same-sex sexual relations.

There remain seven countries in the Caribbean that criminalize gay sex between consenting adults, all of them former British colonies. They are Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

“Caribbean civil society is determined, and Caribbean courts are clear. The clock is ticking on these damaging colonial laws,” said Luisa Cabal. “Countries that have still not taken these laws off the books need to do so as a matter of urgency, for the health and human rights of all their people.”

The Court ruling reduces to 68 the number of countries worldwide criminalizing same-sex sexual relations. Earlier this month, Singapore announced that it is repealing legislation that punished gay sex by a prison sentence of up to two years.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

GENEVA, 22 August 2022—UNAIDS applauds Singapore’s announcement that it will repeal section 377a of the country’s penal code which criminalizes consensual sexual relations between men. The law, which dates back to 1938 when Singapore was under British colonial rule, punishes gay consensual sex by a prison sentence of up to two years.

In his annual policy address speech that included plans to repeal the legislation, Singapore’s Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, said sex between consenting men should not be criminalized and that there was no justification to prosecute people for it, nor to make it a crime. He said that gay people were fellow Singaporeans and that they wanted to live their own lives, participate in the community and contribute fully to Singapore.

“The end of the criminalisation of gay men is wonderful news, both for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Singapore, and for the country as a whole,” said Taoufik Bakkali, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific region. “UNAIDS welcomes this as a significant step towards respecting the human rights of LGBT people in Singapore and creating a more open, tolerant and inclusive society where people can be who they are and love who they want without fear of being imprisoned. This vital change will save lives and benefit everyone, and will inspire other countries to follow. Other countries should join the growing group of nations who have turned away from criminalisation.”

Laws which punish consensual same sex relations, as well as contravening the human rights of LGBT people, are a major barrier to improving health outcomes, including in the HIV response. Punitive legislation embeds stigma and discrimination against LGBT people, deters LGBT people from seeking healthcare for fear of being denounced to the authorities and facing punishment and detention, and prevents countries from putting policies in place that properly respond to differentiated epidemics among their populations.

Singapore joins a growing list of countries that have recently decriminalized same-sex relations, including Antigua and Barbuda, Botswana, Bhutan and Angola. The change in Singapore will at last reduce the number of countries in which consensual same-sex relations are still criminalized to below 70 countries worldwide. Decriminalisation is not the end point in tackling stigma and exclusion, but is a vital step forward.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.