Video interviews
Meg Doherty, Coordinator of Treatment and Care, Department of HIV/AIDS at WHO, talks about a new HIV medicine - dolutegravir
Mercy Ngulube, youth activist for HIV
I was born with HIV and was nervous about coming out as having HIV. What you hear in the media is so negative. There are so many assumptions about people with HIV. You don’t think ‘what a great idea to be open about this’. I’m one of only about 5 young women living with HIV openly in the UK. I won a Diana Legacy award, created in the memory of Princess Diana for young people working towards social change. When I won the award, I had to decide whether to come out openly and tell my friends and family.
Most people have been really supportive. There is still so much stigma connected with being HIV positive. But it’s just a virus. When people actually understand the fact that HIV is a virus that attacks the immune system, they then wonder why there is a huge cloud of stigma around it. If I explained that there are autoimmune disorders that do exactly that, people would say ‘oh I’m so sorry’ and it would be fine. But the label attached to HIV makes it hugely stigmatizing.
When I’ve experienced stigma, I lay out the facts about HIV. I then ask them what gives them the right to disregard someone’s humanity. No-one has an answer to that question. I’m now a trustee at the Sophia Forum (http://sophiaforum.net/), which supports women living with HIV, and I’m using the platform I have to raise awareness.
Linda-Gail Bekker, IAS President
If we look at the fast track goals of 2020 and the high level goals of 2030, the data shows we are not yet on track. We would have to accelerate rapidly to meet these targets. This IAS Lancet commission is a call to arms to recalibrate, to re-focus on priorities and how we do business.
We don’t want to say the glass IS half-empty. We have achieved extraordinary progress in the last 30 years, and access to treatment is at the heart of that success – 22 million people around the world are being treated and many more people know their status. Those first 30 years were about solving an emergency. People were dying by the thousands. Now we need to turn to the next chapter.
There is an abiding concern about HIV funding. At a time when politics has become more unpredictable, there is a salient lesson about diversifying funding streams. It’s heartening that some national budgets have stepped up but many remain heavily dependent on foreign aid. There is also a very dangerous sense that the major HIV concerns are in the past; there has been premature triumphalism, which can backfire badly.
If we don't move forward, we will slide back. There is no standing still. If we are not giving people treatment, we are losing ground. If we don’t have the resources to step-up momentum, then we should be very concerned.
We have to boost R&D. The nature of the beast is that the virus is always changing, the treatment pool keeps growing. We need new drugs and new formulations. We can optimize delivery of medicines so that there is less frequent dosing. But we have to keep our eye on the cure and on a vaccine. Ultimately, the only way we can end this epidemic is to have a prophylactic vaccine. This is expensive R&D, and needs investment and commitment.
Today, it makes good sense to avoid siloes. Many people with HIV have mental health issues, they have sexual health issues. As we work towards achieving health for all and the sustainable development goals, HIV needs to be at the table. We need to position HIV within the global health agenda.
In the fight against HIV, we have learned tremendous lessons that can be translated elsewhere: for instance in the way that we have engaged communities and involved young people. In terms of patent pools and getting drug prices down, we could apply lessons learned to other areas of health.
This is why we wanted the IAS Lancet Commission. This won’t happen overnight, but we are starting a process and now we need to start inplementing that plan over time.
Ozius Dewa, Population Service International
Dr Nittaya Phanuphak from Thai Red Cross AIDS Research Centre on PrEP
Useful documents
About the conference
The 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) to be held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 22-27 July will be a milestone event for WHO for a range of reasons: WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will participate in opening ceremony.
He will be joined by other senior WHO leaders in attending several key events and engage with HIV community and partners. WHO will host over 20 satellites, workshops or other events and will release several new publications, including on the use of dolutegravir in HIV treatment, HIV testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis, HIV drug resistance, toxicity monitoring, key populations and HIV strategic information.
WHO sessions will highlight integrating HIV into universal health coverage, the importance of reaching key populations and addressing the rising HIV epidemics in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
Keynote speakers
TEDROS ADHANOM GHEBREYESUS
Director-General, WHO
Eliminating AIDS epidemics on the road to universal health coverage Keynote speech:
Monday, 23 July, 17:00–19:00, Hall 10
AIDS 2018 Opening Ceremony Keynote speech:
Monday, 23 July, 19:30–20:40, Hall 12
ZSUZSANNA JAKAB
WHO Regional Director for Europe
Where will the resources come from to end AIDS?
Keynote speech:Tuesday, 24 July, 11:00–12:30, Elicium 1
SOUMYA SWAMINATHAN
WHO Deputy Director-General for Programmes
A renewed ‘call to action’ on SRHR–HIV linkages: advancing towards universal health coverage.
Keynote speech: Monday, 23 July, 10:15–12:15, E105–108
REN MINGHUI
WHO Assistant Director-General for Communicable Diseases
Ending the AIDS epidemic and achieving universal health coverage by 2030 in Africa.
Keynote speech: Monday, 23 July, 10:15–12:15, Elicium 1
GOTTFRIED HIRNSCHALL
WHO Director of Department of HIV/Global Hepatitis Programme
What’s new in WHO treatment guidelines: the role of dolutegravir in first- and second-line treatments and new directions in early infant diagnosis.
Chair: Monday, 23 July, 12:30–14:30, Hall 10
