The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

This chapter centers on the role of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in promoting and protecting HIV-related human rights. It starts by recalling the rationale for creating UNAIDS and explains how its mandate and structure has enabled communities affected by HIV to remain engaged. This engagement has been critical in ensuring that human rights considerations remain at the forefront of the global AIDS response. The chapter also looks at the journey ahead, taking AIDS “out of isolation.” It argues that this process can benefit not only the AIDS response but also other health-related Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets, in particular universal health coverage (UHC). It concludes by recognizing the SDGs as a springboard for UNAIDS to scale up efforts to support the realization of human rights, which will ultimately determine whether we will be able to reach the end of the AIDS epidemic.

Setting the scene, setting the targets. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS prevention targets of 2016 and estimating global pre-exposure prophylaxis targets

Commitment to ambitious and time-bound targets for HIV interventions has been part of the response from the beginning of the HIV epidemic. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) HIV primary prevention workA is built on five pillars that include offering pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to population groups at substantial risk of HIV infection. After a slow start, countries are now setting coverage targets for PrEP, but the weakness of epidemiological, demographic and behavioural data at subnational level in many countries where there is a high burden of new HIV infections, makes it difficult to define the locations and populations where to offer PrEP. This article reviews the history and challenges of PrEP target setting and suggests some possible ways of strengthening the process. Reviewing program data will identify gaps in reaching key and other priority populations for whom coverage targets were set and help to refine the offer of PrEP.

Estimates of the Number of People Living with HIV in Italy

Objective. To estimate the HIV prevalence and the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Italy with a projection for 2020.Methods. Two methods elaborated by Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) were used: Estimate and Projection Package and Spectrum.Results. A total of 123,000 (115,000–145,000) individuals aged 15 or more were estimated to be living with HIV in Italy at the end of 2012 and the estimated HIV prevalence was 0.28 (0.24–0.32) per 100 residents aged 15 or more. In 2012, the estimated number of new HIV infections among adults was 3,000 (2,700–4,000), and the number of adults in need for ART was 93,000 (80,000–110,000). The projection estimates that 130,000 (110,000–150,000) adults will live with HIV/AIDS in 2020 in Italy.Conclusion. Estimates of PLHIV in Italy stress the high number of PLHIV in need of care and treatment, as well as the need for more information and prevention campaigns.