IAPAC, HIV COMMUNITY PARTNERS CALL FOR RENEWAL OF EU ACTION PLAN ON HIV
WITH EFFECTIVE INVOLVEMENT OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV IN PLANNING
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (November 30, 2023) – The International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC) and several HIV community partners in Europe have addressed European Union (EU) Commissioner Ms. Stella Kyriakides, on the renewal of an EU Action Plan on HIV to help Member-States achieve Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) programmatic targets, including the 95-95-95 targets whose attainment deadline is 2025 (95% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) know their status; 95% of PLHIV who know their status are on antiretroviral treatment (ART); and 95% of PLHIV on ART achieve viral suppression). The HIV community partners include AIDS Action Europe, Africa Advocacy Foundation, Coalition Plus, European AIDS Treatment Group, European Sex Workers Rights Alliance, and HIV Outcomes.
In a joint letter to Commissioner Kyriakides, IAPAC and its HIV community partners noted that with only two years left to achieve the 95-95-95 targets, most European countries are currently not on track to achieve these milestones, as is reflected in the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) progress report dated September 2023. The report shows that Europe-wide only 83% of all PLHIV know their status, 85% of PLHIV who know their status are on HIV treatment, and 93% of PLHIV on ART have achieved viral suppression. Additionally, the letter stated the EU Action Plan Tackling HIV, Viral Hepatitis, TB, and other STIs expired in 2016, leaving the European Union and its Member-States in a public health void.
A renewal of an EU Action Plan on HIV will help the EU to continue building a European Health Union by strengthening healthcare systems and ensuring better access to health services while ensuring the full implementation of the UNAIDS 2025 targets and more broadly the United Nations goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 (Sustainable Development Goal [SDG] 3.3). The EU’s 2024-2029 mandate will be the last opportunity for the EU to achieve the AIDS-related SDG and uphold its commitments in relation to HIV, other sexually transmitted infections (STIs), tuberculosis TB), and viral hepatitis. The letter further notes that increasing HIV testing capacity, implementing HIV treatment guidelines and policies, and the sharing of best practices on HIV prevention, are concrete actions that Member-States need to take. But these policies require adequate funding and tangible objectives and targets for Member-States to meet. Furthermore, IAPAC and its HIV community partners urged that a renewed EU Action Plan on HIV should be based on both horizontal and vertical actions, effectively involving PLHIV at all stages and levels of planning.
Direct link to the letter: https://www.iapac.org/files/2023/11/IAPAC-Letter-to-Commissioner-Stella-Kyriakides-29-November-2023.pdf
About the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care
Representing 30,000 members, IAPAC is the largest association of clinicians and allied health professionals working to end the epidemics of HIV and tuberculosis (TB), 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/
