Director-General/Executive Director
(As prepared for delivery)
Excellencies,
Colleagues,
Distinguished guests,
It is a pleasure to join you at this fast-track strategy discussion on ending AIDS.
I would like to start by thanking Kenya and South Africa for organizing and hosting this side event.
While Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicentre of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the region is also a source of inspiration for best practices in prevention and human-rights based care for people living with the virus.
According to a 2023 report by UNAIDS, there is a clear path to ending AIDS by 2030.
We have the knowledge and the tools.
But we will not reach this goal automatically – there is still much work to be done and much political will to gather.
In 2022, AIDS claimed a life every minute, and there were more than 1.3 million new HIV infections.
Key populations continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV, including the nearly 13 million people globally who inject drugs.
Among this population, about 1 in 8 people are living with HIV and half of those infected also test positive for hepatitis C.
We know that people in prison are disproportionately impacted by HIV and viral hepatitis.
And we know that sharing needles and syringes puts people at an extremely high risk of contracting HIV.
In fact, people who inject drugs account for 30 per cent of new HIV infections outside of sub-Saharan Africa.
But we also know how to address this health crisis.
The evidence is well established and clear.
We need to focus on what works, according to the evidence.
Needle and syringe programmes work to reduce the spread of HIV and viral hepatitis.
Opioid agonist therapy works in treating opioid dependence, preventing overdose and reducing people’s vulnerability to infectious diseases.
Naloxone works to prevent fatal opioid overdoses and saves lives.
Community-led initiatives to provide these services work, especially when they are tailored to meet the needs of specific groups, such as women and young people.
When countries implement these services at scale and through a human rights lens, the HIV transmission rates among people who inject drugs are nearly zero.
Today, representatives from some of these countries are here with us to share their experiences and success stories.
They have seen first-hand that these interventions can make a positive difference in communities.
They have reduced infectious disease and overdose death, improved the uptake of health and social services, and decreased drug use.
To end AIDS by 2030, we must commit to evidence-based, proven methods.
The CND Chair’s initiative, Pledge4Action, is mobilizing Member States to address the challenges ahead, including by scaling up access to HIV prevention, treatment, and care for people who use drugs and people in prison.
I would like to express my gratitude to those Member States that have already made pledges.
I hope that others will join them, collaborating on new initiatives and financial contributions.
Above all, I hope that the experiences shared by participants in today’s meeting will inspire more Member States to take action.
I strongly believe that ending AIDS is a collective choice – a choice to respect the dignity of each human being as we work towards a healthier, more inclusive world.
Thank you.