Speech By Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh
Dear Colleagues;
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Assala mu walai cum and Good Morning,
It is my great pleasure to address this important function today, as every year, on 1st December, we mark World AIDS Day and take an opportunity to remind ourselves of the urgent and definitive steps that we still need to take in our efforts to end AIDS. Today, we join WHO’s global and regional call to “End inequalities, End AIDS and End pandemics”, overcoming this public health threat by 2030, according to the Sustainable Development Goal 3.3.
HIV continues to be a major global health issue, with 36.3 million victims globally so far, and it remains a disease with no cure. Only in 2020, around 680 000 people died from HIV-related causes, and 1.5 million people acquired HIV globally. An estimated 37.7 million people are currently living with HIV infection, and 10.2 million of them, around one third, are not on treatment. This year, at the 75th UNGA session, the UN Member States, including Bangladesh, signed the new Political Declaration to end AIDS by 2030, through which we have committed to bringing up the treatment coverage to 95% by 2025.
Considering that the South-East Asia Region is home to around 10% of all people living with HIV globally and accounts for 12% of global AIDS-related mortality, we have a long way to go. Nonetheless, even amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the region has managed to keep taking targeted actions to maintain essential health services and prevent, detect, and treat HIV.
Today, as we show solidarity with people living with HIV and remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses, we also express deep gratitude to those working to end AIDS. WHO urges all the countries in the region to intensify actions to fill the remaining gaps, achieve the 95-95-95 targets, and end the inequalities, stigma and discrimination.
To achieve these time-bound targets and goals, several priorities must be addressed:
Firstly, we must recover the lost ground. Despite our best efforts, COVID-19-related disruptions have negatively impacted access to HIV prevention and testing, whereas access to treatment has, for the most part, been maintained. To catch up on pre-pandemic progress, key populations must be reached through institutionalized community engagement initiatives. Emergency preparedness and response plans must include measures to anticipate and mitigate further disruptions and hazards.
Secondly, we need to secure sufficient and sustained domestic investments in HIV services, which must be equitably accessible at the primary health care level. Such investments will also strengthen the health system resilience, complementing the regional and national efforts to build strong Primary Health Care-oriented health systems, as emphasized in a landmark resolution adopted at the Seventy-fourth session of the WHO Regional Committee in September 2021.
Thirdly, we have to leverage high-impact innovations. Pilot studies conducted throughout the region show that innovative tools such as HIV self-testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis are immensely valuable. These and other innovations must be incorporated into comprehensive service packages and rolled out at the population level to achieve maximum impact. Bangladesh has outstandingly already adopted these tools, showing its commitment to the cause.
Finally, it is imperative to intensify the actions that address the epidemic’s non-biomedical aspects, including legal and policy domains. Worldwide, stigma, discrimination, and other structural determinants and inequalities continue to withhold progress, deepening health and social inequities and restraining sustainable social and economic development.
With the persistent inequalities and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic for people living with HIV, we need immediate and cohesive actions to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030. We must ensure that everyone, including marginalized and vulnerable populations, has equal access to effective HIV preventive, diagnostic, treatment and care services, and WHO is fully committed to supporting the government and people of Bangladesh in their journey towards ending inequalities, AIDS and pandemics, and leaving no one behind.
Thank you.