UNAIDS ALERTS COUNTRIES TO STOP NEW HIV INFECTIONS, END AIDS AND PREPARE FOR FUTURE PANDEMICS

UNAIDS has urged countries to take full advantage of new opportunities to step up funding, expand new and proven HIV prevention technologies and remove barriers to HIV services. This was part of remarks made on the side-lines of the 76th World Health Assembly attended by Ministers of Health, global health leaders and experts at a high-level event of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition. Hosted by UNAIDS, the event was a call to increase political commitment, address policies and laws that drive inequalities and pandemics, secure additional funding and ensure effective HIV programming is implemented at scale.
In attendance for the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) was Naadu Awuradwoa Addico, the Gender and Inclusion coordinator.
According to Mitchell Warren, Co-chair of the Global HIV Prevention Coalition, noted that, “This is the best chance we’ve ever had, in probably the entire history of the AIDS pandemic, to reimagine HIV prevention and to do it with equity and with impact.”
According to the 2022 UNAIDS Global HIV Prevention Coalition country scorecards, dedicated HIV prevention Programmes for adolescent girls and young women only exist in 41% of districts with moderate to high HIV incidence in sub-Saharan Africa. Excerpts of statements read on behalf of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana highlighted the urgency of HIV prevention among adolescent girls.

Many adolescent girls face poverty, disability, marginalization, discrimination and exploitation. These factors perpetuate HIV transmission and hinder an effective response to AIDS. PPAG called for policies and laws that allow girls to not only access HIV prevention services like PrEP, but also to complete their education regardless of their background and circumstances.
PPAG’s statement appealed to Governments as well as global leaders, donors and all stakeholders to provide resources and commit to ensuring girls can have equal access to knowledge, support and safe spaces to remain HIV free.
Launched in 2017, the Global HIV Prevention Coalition (GPC) brought UNAIDS’ Co-sponsors, civil society networks, funding partners and implementers together. The Coalition was established to accelerate progress on HIV prevention and ensure accountability for action, since countries were not on track to meet the 2016 UN General Assembly Political Declaration targets on HIV prevention.