AIDS conference opens in Amsterdam with call on countries to end AIDS by 2020

By Linda Asante-Agyei, GNA Special Correspondent, Amsterdam

Amsterdam, July 24, GNA - The 22nd International AIDS Conference has been opened in Amsterdam, Netherlands with a call on countries to put in strenuous measures to achieve the 2020 targets of ending AIDS epidemic.

There are a growing inequalities and intolerance for diversity that are resulting in an HIV prevention crisis and there is the need to break barriers that exclude people from their rights”.

Mr UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé made the call at the official opening of 22 global conference AIDS in Amsterdam.

The International AIDS Conference, the largest conference on any global health issue in the world, will provide a unique forum for the intersection of science, advocacy and human rights.

Bringing about 18, 000 participants together, the conference is an opportunity to strengthen policies and programmes that ensure an evidence-informed response to the epidemic.

The five-day global conference is on the theme: “Breaking barriers, building bridges”, focus on the major new investments, science-based policies and the political will needed to put the HIV response back on track.

Mr Sidibé expressed concern about slow of progress in achieving the 2020 and 2030 targets of ending AIDS and called for the need to put in measures that would close the gaps with more emphasis on the funding gap.

“There is a persistent 20 per cent gap between what is needed and what is available. We know small cuts can have big consequences. A fully funded AIDS response is non-negotiable,” said Mr Sidibé. The 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018)”, he added.

This year’s theme he said echoed one of the messages in UNAIDS’ latest report, Miles to go—that key populations were not considered enough in HIV programming. Key populations and their sexual partners accounted for 47 per cent of new HIV infections worldwide and 97 per cent of new HIV infections in Eastern Europe and central Asia, where one third of new HIV infections were among people who injected drugs.

The conference was officially opened by Princess Mabel van Oranje, the International AIDS Conference Chair, Linda-Gail Bekker, the UNAIDS Executive Director, Michel Sidibé, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Gebreheyesus, and artist and winner of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2014, Conchita Wurst.

Ms Linda-Gail Bekker, President of the International AIDS Society (IAS) and International Scientific Chair of AIDS 2018, said "The biggest barriers now to ending the epidemic are ideologically and politically driven.

“Together, we will hold policy makers and donors accountable to the evidence - the end of AIDS will only come from prioritising science-based policies, ensuring adequate funding and working hard together to be certain that no one is left behind," she noted.

HIV continues to be a major global public health issue, having claimed more than 35 million lives so far. In 2017, 940,000 people died from HIV-related causes globally, according to statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

There were approximately 36.9 million people living with HIV at the end of 2017 with 1.8 million people becoming newly infected in 2017 globally. In 2017, 59 percent of adults and 52 percent of children living with HIV were receiving lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART).

The WHO African Region is the most affected region, with 25.7 million people living with HIV in 2017. The African region also accounts for over two thirds of the global total of new HIV infections.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, said there should not a system that would prevent patients from treatment or die from HIV because of lack of access to basic healthcare, adding, "HIV prevention and care must be part of the fight for universal health coverage. That means recognising universal health coverage as a right for all people, no matter how marginalised."

Among the notable celebrities in attendance are Britain's Prince Harry who co-founded the Sentebale charity, which provides help to young people affected by HIV in the African nations Lesotho and Botswana.

Also present at the conference are; Dutch Princess Mabel, singer Elton John, Hollywood actress Charlize Theron and Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, who recently revealed that she was living with HIV.  

GNA

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