Germany Pledges Continued Global AIDS Support Amid Fiscal and Political Pressures

23/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

MUNICH – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed his government’s commitment to the global campaign against AIDS, including the Global Fund, at the opening of the international AIDS Conference – and appealed to other global powers to do the same. The Ukraine war is draining Germany’s resources, and on the far right, the substantial and growing […] Continue reading ->

NCD Alliance Appeals to HIV Organizations to Press Governments for More Action on Chronic Diseases

22/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

MUNICH – Despite a global commitment to cut deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by a third by 2030, virtually all countries are off-track – and the NCD Alliance is appealing to allied organizations to help pressure governments to take action. “NCDs cause three out of four deaths globally, and 80% of premature mortality from NCDs […] Continue reading ->

UNAIDS Blames Punitive Laws and Stigma for HIV Surge in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

22/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

MUNICH – While new HIV infections in 2023 plummeted globally to the level that they were in the late 1980s, they have surged by 20% in Eastern Europe and Central Asia since 2010, according to UNAIDS. There were 140,000 new HIV infections across Eastern Europe and Central Asia in 2023, with 93% of new cases […] Continue reading ->

People Living With HIV and NCDs Call for Integrated Care

22/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

MUNICH – People living with HIV and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) often have to see different health providers for each condition, wait too long for their NCDs to be diagnosed and take medication that can interact with one another. In addition, most were unaware that their HIV status increased their risk of some NCDs – and […] Continue reading ->

WHO Raises Alarm Over Polio Virus Detected in Gaza Sewage Water Samples

19/07/2024 Elaine Ruth Fletcher

Variant type 2 poliovirus (VDPV) has been isolated from six environmental (sewage) samples in the Gaza Strip – collected from two different collection sites in the southern city of Khan Younis as well as Deir al Balah, further north, WHO confirmed Friday. The variant poliovirus strains detected in all six wastewater samples, collected in late […] Continue reading ->

End Stigma To End AIDS – Once and For All

19/07/2024 Hans Kluge

WHO’s Regional Director for Europe reflects on why we haven’t been able to end AIDS despite having the tools to do so – as Germany hosts the 25th International AIDS conference. Twenty-four years ago, Maria Godlevkskaya was in a coma in a hospital in Russia, her immune system having failed without treatment for her HIV. […] Continue reading ->

Despite Advances in HIV Science, Progress is Threatened by ‘Inaction’

18/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

On the eve of the International AIDS conference in Munich, scientists report that another person has been cured of AIDS via a stem cell transplant and impressive success in HIV prevention via trials of long-action injectable pre-exposure medication – yet funding cuts threaten global HIV goals. UNAIDS economist Erik Lamontagne said that HIV could cost […] Continue reading ->

New UN Report Calls for Fresh Approach to Ending Food Insecurity and Hunger

18/07/2024 Zuzanna Stawiska

Food security and nutrition initiatives often fail due to fragmentation, a lack of consensus on priorities, and the prevalence of numerous actors delivering mostly small, short-term projects, according to this year’s State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report, due to be released next week. More targeted and less risk-averse finance, as […] Continue reading ->

Pandemic Agreement Timetable Leaves Little Room for December Adoption

17/07/2024 Kerry Cullinan

As delegates at this week’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) worked to nail down a day-by-day agenda for negotiating a pandemic agreement for the next few months, it appears increasingly unlikely that the talks will be concluded by year-end. The detailed work plan – an indication that the Bureau has heard criticism that it has given […] Continue reading ->

By 2035, Most People Living With HIV Will Also Have a Chronic Disease

17/07/2024 Katie Dain & Cynthia Cardona

By 2035, nearly three quarters of the 40 million people living with HIV worldwide will be living with one or more chronic disease, also referred to as noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). While there are encouraging examples of integrated HIV and NCD healthcare delivery, this is yet to become the norm in low- and middle-income countries. As stakeholders […] Continue reading ->