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The International AIDS Society (IAS) is hosting a series of webinars on COVID-19 and HIV to discuss the pandemic and its impact on People Living with HIV (PLHIV).

Please see details below.

The IAS is pleased to invite you to the final webinar of this series brought to you by the IAS Educational Fund under the theme, COVID-19 and HIV: Adapting community-based HIV services during a pandemic, which will take place on 28 May 2020. This webinar will share and discuss how community-led HIV organizations pivoted their services to benefit their communities and the key and vulnerable groups that they support, highlighting practical actions implemented since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Please register to confirm your participation before 27 May.

REGISTER NOW

Date: Thursday, 28 May 2020
Time: 13:00 – 14:30 (CEST)

Use this tool to see the time of the webinar at your location.

Topics and speakers:

• Mitigating the impact of COVID-19 for key populations
Dr Chris Akolo, Technical Director of LINKAGES Project, Family Health International 360 – USA

• Adapting sex worker services during the COVID-19 pandemic
Surang Janyam, Founder and Director of Service Workers IN Group (SWING) Foundation – Thailand

• Maintaining harm reduction services during the COVID-19 pandemic
Anton Basenko, Country Focal Point: PITCH, Alliance for Public Health – Ukraine

• Ensuring access to HIV treatment in lockdown
Prof Mehdi Karkouri, President of Association de Lutte Contre le SIDA and Board Member of Coalition Plus – Morocco

• Taking HIV and related youth services virtual
Mather Mawodzeke, Head of Programmes, Africaid Zvandiri – Zimbabwe

• Integrated Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights services during the COVID-19 pandemic
Nisha Jagdish, Director of Gender and Rights Program, Family Planning Association – India

Moderator: Kate Thomson, Head of Community, Rights and Gender and Civil Society Hub, The Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria

A recording of this webinar will be made available on the IAS website.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with instructions for joining the webinar. Please send us your questions in advance of this webinar to coronaquestions@iasociety.org.

The webinar series is recommended to HIV professionals, government representatives working in the field of HIV, public health specialists, programme managers, service providers, civil society representatives and members of organizations supporting key and vulnerable populations.

We look forward to your joining us! Please help us inform others by promoting and disseminating this invitation within your networks.

The IAS Educational Fund is aimed at providing and investing in educational opportunities that support the frontline HIV workforce by making scientific fora more accessible to our members and their communities.

For inquiries or further information, please contact iasedu@iasociety.org.

GENEVA, 18 May 2020—A cornerstone of the response to HIV, community-led health service delivery has become even more critical in the context of COVID-19, as the needs of marginalized community members and the burden on the health sector are increasing, making it vital that continued provision of HIV, Tuberculosis and other health services is secured.  Community-led organizations are providing a lifeline to underserved, marginalized and hard-to-reach populations around the world.

Physical distancing restrictions have created significant challenges for those needing to access essential services, creating an increased burden on community organizations, which are at the centre of service delivery.

UNAIDS recognizes that community organizations have an unparalleled depth of experience in creating and delivering responses to health and human rights crises within their communities. The many community-led networks and groups that emerged to respond to HIV possess immense practical experience, organizational strength and unparalleled community access for facilitating the delivery of life-saving support, and for influencing people’s real-life practices to better protect their health.

Community-led networks and organizations have also developed important working relationships and roles within health and community systems, including in coordination and task-shifting functions. As evidenced in many countries, these capacities can, with proper support, be deployed to facilitate the provision of COVID-19 information, prevention, testing and linkages to care. Yet without formal recognition of the essential nature of their work, they face significant barriers to continuing to provide services. It is the view of UNAIDS that it is critical to the COVID-19 response and to mitigating broader health impacts of the pandemic that community-led organizations be supported to continue to provide essential services and have the protective equipment and safe policy environment necessary to do so.

The role of community-led organizations must be appropriately recognized and supported in the context of COVID-19. They must be factored into all aspects of planning, design and implementation of interventions to combat both COVID-19 and the efforts required to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on other health areas, including HIV and tuberculosis. In particular, and as first steps in this effort, UNAIDS urges COVID-19 crisis committees at the national and district levels to:

• Include the workforce of community-led health care services into the lists of essential service providers and treat them as equivalent to health-care providers.
• Design physical distancing restrictions and policies in ways that allow community-led services to continue operating safely. Essential services include, but are not limited to, the physical provision of HIV, tuberculosis and COVID-19 and other health services that include prevention commodities, including condoms, lubricants, clean needles and opioid substitution therapy, contraceptives, hygiene kits, test kits, medication, triage and linkage to care, adherence support, packages of food and other essentials, the provision of legal services and protection for survivors of gender-based violence and other forms of violence and discrimination. Particular attention needs to be paid to people with physical disabilities.
• Provide special authorization to relevant community-led service providers to move freely, with appropriate personal protective equipment, to deliver the services when and where needed.
• Ensure that community-led organizations, networks and groups be provided with personal protective equipment and training in order to protect themselves and their clients in the course of service delivery.
• Take urgent measures to ensure the security, and expansion, of existing funding for community-led organizations, so that those organizations can continue to provide services.
• Ensure inclusive and transparent governance of COVID-19 responses, with decision-making bodies that include representatives of community-led organizations, including those focused on gender, equity and human rights, to ensure that COVID-19 policies are designed to support the range of service providers and activities necessary for an effective and equitable response.

GENEVA – The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria embraced a swift and effective response to the COVID-19 pandemic in order to protect progress against HIV, TB, malaria and to strengthen systems for health to save lives.

The Board, concluding its 43^rd meeting and the first one held virtually, agreed on the imperative to leave no one behind, stressing the critical role of communities in keeping people safe, especially when facing a new wave of challenges. Recognizing the severe danger posed by COVID-19 to progress made against HIV, TB and malaria, the Board asserted a strong commitment to striving for equitable access and protecting the most vulnerable.

Advancing global health security and strengthening systems for health is central to protecting the Global Fund’s core mission and to fight new and emerging diseases like COVID-19. The Board discussed measures to make sure that mitigation and response strategies will protect people, by leveraging the power of multi-stakeholder engagement and partnerships including civil society, communities, government and private sector partners.

“This is one and the same fight,” said Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund. “It’s not just a battle against one particular virus, it’s a commitment to make everyone safe. It’s about finishing the fights we haven’t yet won, and winning the new fight against COVID-19, as well as preparing ourselves for fights against pathogens as yet unseen.”

“A concept of global health security that only focuses on threats to people living in rich countries won’t work,” Sands added. “We need global health security that protects everyone, from new threats and old, that is grounded in rights and that simultaneously recognizes the role of science and the equally important role of communities. We must unite to fight.”

Board members expressed strong support for enhancing guidance, monitoring and risk management in the rapidly evolving context. Effective monitoring mechanisms, strong analysis and tracking of the evolving epidemiological, social and economic impact all need to be reflected in the Global Fund’s risk assessment and mitigation measures.

Beginning in March 2020, the Global Fund launched new measures to respond swiftly and effectively to COVID-19 in close collaboration with other partners, making up to US$1 billion available to help countries fight COVID-19, mitigate the impacts on lifesaving HIV, TB and malaria programs, and prevent fragile health systems from being overwhelmed.

The Global Fund is also a founding partner of the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, a global collaboration of organizations and governments working to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to new COVID-19 technologies. The Global Fund also co-leads the WHO Diagnostics Consortium along with UNICEF to negotiate pricing and procure molecular diagnostic tests for COVID-19 responses.

At its meeting, the Board also discussed the development of the next Global Fund Strategy and the need to adapt to the new challenges posed by COVID-19 and by climate change, with a fresh imperative, as one Board member put it, “for engaging our strengths in delivery of our purpose.”

“Development of our new strategy will be driven by evidence through an inclusive process,” said Donald Kaberuka, Chairman of the Board of the Global Fund.

The Board has consistently underscored the removal of human rights and gender barriers to health care as a critically important element, recognizing that COVID-19 is disproportionately affecting the poorest, the most marginalized and the most vulnerable, in the same way as HIV, TB and malaria.

The Global Fund raises and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in more than 100 countries. The infrastructure and capabilities to defeat diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria – medical supply chains, laboratories, community health workers, disease surveillance – are also needed to fight COVID-19.

Under WHO guidance, the Global Fund strongly encourages countries to take prompt action to mitigate the potential negative consequences of COVID-19 on existing programs supported by Global Fund grants.

GENEVA, 14 MAY 2020—More than 140 world leaders and experts, including the President of South Africa and Chair of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, the President of the Republic of Senegal, Macky Sall and the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo have signed an open letter calling on all governments to unite behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19. The call was made just days before health ministers meet virtually for the World Health Assembly on 18 May.

The letter, which marks the most ambitious position yet set out by world leaders on a COVID-19 vaccine, demands that all vaccines, treatments and tests be patent-free, mass-produced, distributed fairly and made available to all people, in all countries, free of charge.

Other signatories include the former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Gordon Brown, the former President of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo, the former United Nations Development Programme Administrator and former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark.

They join notable economists, health advocates and others, from the Chair of the Elders and the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, Nobel Laureate, Joseph Stiglitz, to Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr John Nkengasong, Director of African Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, and Dainius Puras, the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

“Billions of people today await a vaccine that is our best hope of ending this pandemic,” said Cyril Ramaphosa, President of South Africa. “As the countries of Africa, we are resolute that the COVID-19 vaccine must be patent-free, rapidly made and distributed, and free for all. All the science must be shared between governments. Nobody should be pushed to the back of the vaccine queue because of where they live or what they earn.”

“We must work together to beat this virus. We must pool all the knowledge, experience and resources at our disposal for the good of all humanity,” said Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan. “No leader can rest easy until every individual in every nation is able to rapidly access a vaccine free of charge.”

The letter, coordinated by UNAIDS and Oxfam, warns that the world cannot afford monopolies and competition to stand in the way of the universal need to save lives.

“This is an unprecedented crisis and it requires an unprecedented response,” said former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. “Learning the lessons from the fight against Ebola, governments must remove all the barriers to the development and rapid roll-out of vaccines and treatments. No interest is more important than the universal need to save lives”

The leaders recognize that progress is being made and that many countries and international organizations are cooperating multilaterally on research and development, funding and access, including the welcome US$ 8 billion pledged on 4 May at the European Union’s international pledging marathon.

However, as many countries and companies are proceeding with unprecedented speed to develop an effective vaccine, the leaders are calling for concrete commitments to ensure that it is made affordable and available to all in the quickest possible time. These include:

• A mandatory worldwide pooling of patents and sharing of all COVID-19-related knowledge, data and technologies in order to ensure that any nation can produce or buy affordable doses of vaccines, treatments and tests.
• The rapid establishment of an equitable global manufacturing and distribution plan for all vaccines, treatments and tests that is fully funded by rich nations and which guarantees transparent “at true cost prices” and supplies in accordance with need rather than the ability to pay.
  • This would include urgent action to massively increase manufacturing capacity to produce the vaccines in sufficient quantities and train and recruit millions of health workers to distribute them.
• A guarantee that COVID-19 vaccines, treatments and tests are provided free of charge to everyone, everywhere, with priority given to frontline workers, vulnerable people and poor countries with the least capacity to save lives.

“Faced with this crisis, we cannot carry on business as usual. The health of each of us depends on the health of all of us,” said Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand. “The COVID-19 vaccine must not belong to anyone and must be free for everyone. Diplomatic platitudes are not enough—we need legal guarantees, and we need them now.”

“Market solutions are not optimal to fight a pandemic,” said Nelson Barbosa, former Finance Minister of Brazil. “A public health care system, including free vaccination and treatment when that becomes available, is essential to deal with the problem, as shown by the Brazilian experience with compulsory licensing of antiretroviral drugs in the case of HIV.”

Uniting behind a people’s vaccine against COVID-19—open letter and full list of signatories

GENEVA – The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria today approved a new response mechanism to support countries to respond to COVID-19 and mitigate the impact on programs to fight HIV, TB, malaria and systems for health, effectively doubling the amount of available funding to US$1 billion.

The COVID-19 Response Mechanism authorizes funding of up to US$500 million and comes in addition to US$500 million in grant flexibilities that were announced by the Global Fund on 4 March and are already being implemented by 54 countries.

Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, stressed the urgency of the situation and called on partners to unite efforts to respond to an unprecedented public health emergency that threatens to derail progress on HIV, TB and malaria, and to overwhelm community and health systems with potentially catastrophic consequences.

“It is absolutely critical to take swift action, both to protect people now and to maintain lifesaving programs to fight HIV, TB and malaria,” Sands said. “We face a monumental challenge, and we have to work together like never before. It is not only the right thing to do, it is also the smart thing to do. We must unite to fight.”

The Global Fund is responding quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic under WHO leadership and in close collaboration with other partners. The COVID-19 Response Mechanism will provide additional support for country responses to the pandemic and continuity in the fight against HIV, TB and malaria through the rapid deployment of funds. It further enables the Global Fund to mobilize additional resources from private and public donors willing to support the most vulnerable countries as they fight COVID-19.

With an initial allocation of US$500 million, the COVID-19 Response Mechanism will leverage the principle of country ownership and allow countries to request funding for control and containment, to mitigate the impact on HIV, TB and malaria and to support systems for health, including laboratory networks, supply chains, and community-led response.

The Board on Thursday also approved temporary flexibilities to address disruptions in supply chain and to program implementation due to COVID-19.

Several Board members stressed the importance of removing human rights and gender barriers to health care, and of the role of communities, as essential to an effective response. As with HIV, TB and malaria, COVID-19 will disproportionately affect the poorest, the most marginalized and the most vulnerable.

Advancing global health security and strengthening local systems for health is central to the Global Fund’s mission to end the world’s three deadliest epidemics – HIV, TB and malaria – and to fight new and emerging diseases like COVID-19.

The Global Fund raises and invests more than US$4 billion a year to support programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in more than 100 countries. The infrastructure and capabilities to defeat diseases like AIDS, TB and malaria – medical supply chains, laboratories, community health workers, disease surveillance – are also needed to fight COVID-19.

The Global Fund is responding rapidly and since 4 March has enabled countries to use up to 5% of approved grant funding. US$70 million has been approved across 54 countries and two regional grants, and more funding requests are being considered.

Under WHO guidance, the Global Fund strongly encourages countries to take prompt action to mitigate the potential negative consequences of COVID-19 on existing programs supported by Global Fund grants.

GENEVA, 8 April 2020—UNAIDS: The COVID-19 pandemic, as with other health crises, exposes existing inequalities and disproportionately affects people already criminalized, marginalized and living in financially precarious situations, often outside social protection mechanisms.

During these difficult times, the Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) and UNAIDS wish to draw attention to the particular hardships and concerns facing sex workers globally and are calling on countries to ensure the respect, protection and fulfilment of sex workers’ human rights.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, sex workers all over the world are experiencing hardship, a total loss of income and increased discrimination and harassment. The criminalization of various aspects of sex work in the majority of countries serves to magnify the already precarious situation of sex workers in the informal economy. As sex workers and their clients self-isolate, sex workers are left unprotected, increasingly vulnerable and unable to provide for themselves and their families.

Sex worker-led organizations from all regions are reporting a lack of access to national social protection schemes and exclusion from emergency social protection measures being put in place for other workers, particularly where sex work is criminalized. Whenever and wherever possible, sex workers are responsibly self-isolating in response to governments’ calls. However, when they are excluded from COVID-19 social protection responses, sex workers are faced with putting their safety, their health and their lives at increased risk just to survive.

NSWP and UNAIDS are furthermore concerned at reports of punitive crackdowns against sex workers, resulting in the raiding of homes, compulsory COVID-19 testing, arrest and threatened deportation of migrant sex workers.

UNAIDS calls on countries to take immediate, critical action, grounded in human rights principles, to protect the health and rights of sex workers. Measures should include:

• Access to national social protection schemes for sex workers, including income support schemes.
• An immediate firewall between health services and immigration authorities in order to ensure that migrant sex workers can access health services.
• Emergency financial support for sex workers facing destitution, particularly migrants who are unable to access residency-based financial support.
• An immediate end to evictions and access to appropriate emergency housing for homeless sex workers.
• Stopping raids on sex workers’ homes and sex work premises and ensuring that all measures to protect public health are proportionate.
• An immediate halt to arrests and prosecutions for sex work-related activity, moving away from punitive measures and criminalization towards reaching and serving those most in need.
• An immediate end to the use of criminal law to enforce COVID-19-related restrictions, including forced COVID-19 testing and related prosecutions.
• Automatic extensions on visas due to expire as travel restrictions tighten. Immigration detention systems must support detainees in safe accommodation.
• The engagement of sex worker communities in responses—the meaningful involvement of sex worker-led organizations in emergency public health planning groups.

UNAIDS, as ever, stands ready to support countries in the implementation of the above recommendations