We must change tack to make progress in the war against HIV
As Africans, we must embody the spirit of Ubuntu—that is, that we are only people through other people.
What you need to know:
- We must shift our focus and remove the factors that create vulnerability to HIV
- The eastern and southern African region remains the most affected by HIV in the world
Forty years ago, on June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report described five cases of pneumocystis pneumonia in gay men.
The report foreshadowed the global Aids epidemic, which has since resulted in over 75 million HIV infections and 32 million deaths worldwide.
Since the 1980s, we have witnessed remarkable moments in science and activism, and, in the last year of Aids’ 40th decade, a global pandemic so unexpected and fierce, it has made us rethink our preparedness for health emergencies past, present and future.
A clear lesson from the colliding epidemics of HIV and Covid-19 is that if we do not put human rights and social justice at the centre of our response we are bound to fail.
With less than 10 years to go to reach our common goal of ending Aids by 2030, the adoption of the new Global Aids Strategy 2021-2026 - End Inequalities. End AIDS. by the UNAids Programme Coordinating Board earlier this year has been a pivotal moment in the global response.
At a moment in history where the Aids response is off track, the strategy provides pathways on how to correct and accelerate it.
We must shift our focus and remove the factors that create vulnerability to HIV, hinder access to treatment and prevention and perpetuate discrimination.
Gender identities
The eastern and southern African (ESA) region remains the most affected by HIV in the world. While this region remains one of the most affected by criminalisation of sexual and gender identities, sex work and drug use, we see many instances in which key populations build and capitalise on their resilience and keep fighting for human rights.
The 2021 high-level meeting was the springboard for a decade of action to reduce inequalities and root out the social determinants that fuel the HIV epidemic.
Last month, African ministers of health endorsed a Common Africa Position for the High-Level Meeting. I urge African member states to use this position to negotiate the political declaration as a unified bloc.
As Africans, we must embody the spirit of Ubuntu—that is, that we are only people through other people. We must put people at the very centre of our deliberations. And this means all people, regardless of who they are, who they love or what work they do.
