October 2015

Oct 14, 2015

Many HIV-positive people are still left behind

Dear reader,

Are we at the beginning of a new era regarding the eradication of the AIDS pathogen? What was celebrated as a breakthrough at this year's IAS conference in Vancouver could actually stop the spread of this pathogen for good! All infected people carrying the HIV virus are to receive an antiretroviral treatment at an early stage. The scientific community in Vancouver was already speaking almost euphorically of a historical moment.

We are already rubbing our eyes a little in wonder at the current news of success in the area of AIDS! UNAIDS has surprised us with the message that the Millennium Development Goal set for the end of 2015 has been reached early and that 15 million people worldwide are in treatment. And Cuba has announced that she is the first nation to successfully eradicate all mother-baby transmissions.

Is the ambitious goal of 'ending AIDS by 2030' now moving within our grasp? We are clearly on the right track: science has the necessary medical preconditions and, with the Fast Track Report, UNAIDS has created the appropriate instrument to implement measures at a fast pace. The first milestone for 2020: '90-90-90' – 90% of all HIV-infected people to have been tested, 90% of them to be in treatment and 90% of those displaying evidence of a successful suppression of the virus.

But take care! This all sounds great so long as we do not take into account where we are today: over 50% of HIV-positive people are unaware that they are carrying the virus because they are coming forward to be tested. Enormous efforts are required in the next five years up to 2020. Sally Smith from UNAIDS left no doubt of this at this year's aidsfocus.ch conference. 'Carrying on as before' is a retrograde step! As UNAIDS director Michel Sidibè recently warned on another occasion: 'Now we face a new conspiracy that the job is done.' You can read about why the job is not done and which challenges still need to be overcome in our current MMS Bulletin: 'Many HIV-positive people are still left behind.' Whether or not the virus can be stopped will be decided above all amongst the high-risk groups with their disproportionally high rates of new infection delineated there. Up until now, these people, in particular sex workers, homosexuals, transgendered people, the disabled, inmates, young women and girls, have hardly been reached by the programmes. Sally Smith is convinced: 'We must do things differently.'

Above and beyond the biomedical aspects of HIV, the social and structural impediments must be eliminated: governments and financial decision-makers, national and international organisations must intensify their work with HIV-positive people and with activists as their allies. Close collaboration with local communities and civil society as well as decisive action against human rights violations are the key factors in the new pace for a future without AIDS. The international community must now demonstrate the seriousness of its intent!

Martina Staenke

Collaborator communication Medicus Mundi Switzerland

mstaenke@medicusmundi.ch