The review of progress looks at the gains made and outlines that the rapid treatment scale-up has been a major contributing factor to the 42% decline in AIDS-related deaths since the peak in 2004 and notes that this has caused life expectancy in the countries most affected by HIV to rise sharply in recent years.

The report underlines the critical role civil society has played in securing many of the gains made and the leadership provided by people living with HIV. Community efforts have been key to removing many of the obstacles faced in scaling up the AIDS response, including reaching people at risk of HIV infection with HIV services, helping people to adhere to treatment and reinforcing other essential health services.

A major area of success has been in reducing new HIV infections among children.

In the report, however, Mr Ban also calls the shortfalls in the implementation of the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS distressing, revealing that even as new HIV prevention tools and approaches have emerged, HIV prevention programmes have weakened in recent years owing to inadequate leadership, weak accountability and declining funding. He notes that new HIV infections declined by just 8% between 2010 and 2014.

The report draws attention to regions where new HIV infections are continuing to rise, including Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where new HIV infections rose by 30% between 2000 and 2014, mostly among people who inject drugs.

It notes that gender norms that perpetuate inequality continue to prevail across many societies and that girls and young women remain particularly affected by HIV.

The report highlights that despite the progress made on expanding access to antiretroviral therapy, around 22 million people still do not have access to treatment.

Despite the challenges outlined in the report, it does offer substantial hope for the future, stating that if the world can alter the status quo, the AIDS epidemic can be ended as a public health threat by as soon as 2030. To do this, the report outlines that the response needs to be inclusive, accessible and grounded in human rights and that it must focus on scaling up services for the people and places most in need. The report also emphasizes the necessity of repealing punitive laws and repressive policies that criminalize same-sex sexual relations, people who use drugs and sex workers, since they impede access to services.

The report gives strong emphasis to the links between the response to HIV and the success of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), underlining the strong links to SDG 3 (ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all), SDG 5 (achieve gender equality and empower women and girls), SDG 10 (reduce inequality in access to services and commodities), SDG 16 (promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies) and SDG 17 (revitalize the partnership for sustainable development).

The report notes that the scale-up of resources in recent years has been a strong driving force behind the progress made in responding to HIV.

The report urges countries to embrace the UNAIDS Fast-Track approach to ending the AIDS epidemic, which will require reaching an ambitious set of goals by 2020, including reducing the numbers of people newly infected with HIV and people dying from AIDS-related causes to fewer than 500 000 per annum and eliminating HIV-related discrimination. Targets to reach these goals include reaching the 90–90–90 treatment target for 2020, which calls for 90% of people living with HIV to know their status, 90% of people who know their HIV-positive status to access treatment and 90% of people on treatment to have suppressed viral loads.

The report is available in 6 languages.

Source: UNAIDS