HIV/AIDS

The report looks at the issue through the prism of national case studies. These pinpoint how a variety of partners have come together, pooling ideas, expertise and resources, to empower women to access female condoms. This is crucial as HIV is the leading cause of death among women of reproductive age worldwide, and in sub-Saharan Africa 60 percent of all people living with HIV are female. 

The purpose of this work is to assist South Africa in improving its HIV prevention response. In 2011, the South African government has the challenging task to draw up a new 5-year strategy: the National HIV Strategic Plan 2012 to 2016. This plan is to provide strategic direction on how to respond to HIV and AIDS in South Africa in the next five years. With the annual rate of new HIV infections down to the level of the early 1990s, a slower spread of HIV infection in teenagers, ARV provision at high levels, and promising new HIV prevention tools becoming available, these five years represent a window of opportunity to radically turn around the epidemic by significantly putting the brakes on new infections in the country.

This report shows that these global commitments will be achieved only if the unique needs of young women and men are acknowledged, and their human rights fulfilled, respected, and protected. In order to reduce new HIV infections among young people, achieve the broader equity goals set out in the MDGs, and begin to reverse the overall HIV epidemic, HIV prevention and treatment efforts must be tailored to the specific needs of young people.

The case studies that follow, from across sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Europe and Central
Asia, Latin America and North America, highlight the rich diversity of community initiatives that
bridge sexual and reproductive health and rights and HIV. The report has a strategic emphasis
on the innovation that is being led by women living with HIV and features pioneering endeavours
that reflect community and key stakeholder interpretation and understanding of how this
intersection is defined. It profiles initiatives that have emerged from within the HIV sector as it
broadens out to encompass a sexual and reproductive health and rights approach, as well as

This report is a preliminary assessment of global investments in research and development
(R&D) devoted to the discovery and development of new therapies and treatment strategies
for HIV. As part of a broader effort to track and analyze HIV/AIDS spending, UNAIDS
commissioned the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and AVAC to measure global R&D spending
for HIV treatment, starting with the year 2009.
From a total of 144 surveyed institutions, 48 funders reported investing $2.5 billion in HIV
treatment R&D in 2009. The scope of HIV treatment R&D included HIV basic science, drug
discovery, drug development, diagnostics, and operational and implementation science on

We live in a time of unprecedented hope for the 33.3 million people living with HIV worldwide. Antiretroviral therapy (ART) offers the promise of a full and fulfilling life. Now people living with HIV can raise their families, work and pursue their dreams. But a thief is in our midst—one that is routinely robbing people, and the countries they live in, of their futures. Every minute, three people living with HIV have their lives snatched away by tuberculosis (TB). Africa, hit hard by HIV, is also hit hard by TB. TB is the main cause of death in people living with HIV.

The good participatory practice (GPP) guidelines provide trial funders, sponsors, and implementers with systematic guidance on how to effectively engage with stakeholders in the design and conduct of biomedical HIV prevention trials. In the GPP guidelines, “design and conduct of biomedical HIV prevention trials” refers to activities required for the development, planning, implementation, and conclusion of a trial, including dissemination of trial results.

The primary goals of Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention are to improve the dignity, quality, and length of life of people living with HIV; which, if achieved will, in turn, have a beneficial impact on their partners, families, and communities, including reducing the likelihood of new infections.

Many countries with a high burden of HIV infection also face burgeoning epidemics of noncommunicable diseases. Similar to HIV, noncommunicable diseases are most frequent in low- and middle-income countries, and the age-adjusted death rates from noncommunicable diseases are nearly twice as high in low- and middle-income countries as in high-income countries. People living with HIV often also have high rates of noncommunicable diseases. With HIV programmes rapidly expanding, people with HIV are living longer and ageing, and are developing non-HIV-related chronic conditions similar to the rest of the population.