SIX CITIES, PREVENTION ACCESS CAMPAIGN HONORED AT
FAST-TRACK CITIES 2023 FOR URBAN HIV LEADERSHIP
24 SEPTEMBER 2023 (Amsterdam, NETHERLANDS) – At a Fast-Track Cities 2023 pre-conference reception held this evening in Amsterdam, Netherlands, six Fast-Track Cities and the Prevention Access Campaign received regional 2023 Fast-Track Cities Circle of Excellence Awards and the 2023 Fast-Track Cities Community Leadership Award, respectively, in recognition of their political, public health, and community leadership in support of urban HIV responses.
Earlier this year, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) and Fast-Track Cities Institute (FTCI) launched a review process to identify cities from six geographic regions whose work exemplifies the Fast-Track Cities mission. The Fast-Track Cities network was launched in 2014 and today comprises more than 500 cities engaged in ending their urban HIV epidemics by 2030. The six cities selected to receive the 2023 Fast-Track Cities Circle of Excellence Awards included:
• Asia-Pacific: Melbourne, Australia
• West/Eastern Europe: Berlin, Germany
• Latin America/Caribbean: Buenos Aires, Argentina
• Lusophone Africa: Maputo, Mozambique
• North America: Phoenix, AZ, USA
• Southern/Eastern Africa: eThekwini, South Africa
The Mayor of eThekwini, South Africa, Mr. Mxolisi Kaunda, accepted his city’s 2023 Fast-Track Cities Circle of Excellence Award in-person. The awards for Buenos Aires (Mayor Horacio Larreta); Maputo, Mozambique (Mayor Eneas Comiche); Melbourne, Australia (Mayor Sally Capp); and Phoenix, AZ, USA (Mayor Kate Gallego) were accepted via video. Berlin, Germany’s award was accepted by Ina Czyborra, Senator for Science, Health, and Care for the State of Berlin.
The Prevention Access Campaign was recognized for its work in creating, advocating for, and scaling up implementation of the destigmatizing U=U message, including with community partners at city and municipal levels. U=U stands for undetectable equals untransmittable, an evidence-based message based on multiple studies indicating there is zero risk of sexual transmission of HIV if a person living with HIV has undetectable viral load. Mr. Bruce Richman, who is Founding Executive Director of the Prevention Access Campaign, accepted the 2023 Fast-Track Cities Community Leadership Award on behalf of his organization and partner organizations around the world advocating for U=U.
“Political, public health, and community leadership are at the heart of the Fast-Track Cities movement and are integral to averting AIDS-related deaths, stemming new HIV infections, and eliminating HIV-related stigma,” said Dr. José M. Zuniga, President/CEO of IAPAC and FTCI, which launched the two awards in 2021. “Congratulations to the Prevention Access Campaign for its game-changing contributions and to the six cities for advancing their responses to their urban HIV epidemics with bold and sustained leadership.”
In 2023, the “Circle of Excellence Awards” recognized six Fast-Track Cities: Amsterdam, Netherlands; Johannesburg, South Africa; Kingston, Jamaica; Lagos State, Nigeria; New York City, NY, USA; and Quezon City, Philippines. The 2022 Fast-Track Cities Community Leadership Award recognized 100% Life, a Ukrainian community-based organization that continues to offer support to people living with HIV in that country whose lives have been affected by Russian military hostilities. Click here for a list of past awardees.
NOTE: The Fast-Track Cities 2023 conference reception was hosted by the City of Amsterdam, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), Fast-Track Cities Institute, GGD Amsterdam, and Aidsfonds.
About Fast-Track Cities
Fast-Track Cities is a global partnership between more than 500 cities, the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris. The partnership’s aim is to end urban HIV epidemics by getting to zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths, and zero HIV-related stigma. Launched on World AIDS Day 2014, the partnership also advances efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) epidemics and eliminate viral hepatitis (HBV and HCV) in urban settings by 2030.
About IAPAC
Representing 30,000 members, IAPAC is the largest association of clinicians and allied health professionals working to end the epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis, as well as eliminate HBV and HCV, by 2030. IAPAC is also a core technical partner to the Fast-Track Cities network and the Secretariat for its Fast-Track Cities Institute. For more information about IAPAC, please visit: https://www.iapac.org/
About the Fast-Track Cities Institute
The Fast-Track Institute was created to support cities and municipalities worldwide in their efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.3 (ending the epidemics of HIV and TB), the World Health Organization goal of eliminating HBV and HCV, and SDG 11 Sustainable Development Goal 11. For information about the Fast-Track Cities Institute, please visit: https://www.ftcinstitute.org/
