Sixty-sixth session
Agenda item 10
Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declarations on HIV/AIDS

Report of the Secretary-General

Summary

This is the first report to the General Assembly since the High-level Meeting on HIV/AIDS, held in June 2011. At that meeting, which reviewed progress made during the previous decade, Member States embraced the vision of a world with zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. The 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: Intensifying Our Efforts to Eliminate HIV and AIDS, provides a road map towards this vision, adopting 2015 as the deadline for achieving concrete results. Member States pledged to deliver antiretroviral therapy to 15 million people living with HIV; work towards eliminating new infections in children and substantially reducing maternal AIDS-related deaths; reduce by 50 per cent new infections from sexual transmission and among people who inject drugs; substantially increase HIV funding, with the goal of mobilizing $22 billion to $24 billion annually; meet the needs of women and girls; and eliminate stigma and discrimination.

Today the international community has cause for hope and optimism in the response. Access to essential treatment and prevention services has increased, new infections and AIDS-related deaths are on the decline, and young people in highprevalence countries are increasingly adopting safer sexual behaviours. With recent research results indicating that antiretroviral treatment reduces by 96 per cent the risk of HIV transmission within couples in which one partner is living with HIV and the other uninfected, leaders have begun speaking of a possible “beginning of the end of AIDS”. Yet at this unprecedented moment, critical challenges remain. Substantial access gaps persist for key services, with especially difficult obstacles experienced by populations at higher risk. Punitive laws, gender inequality, violence against women and other human rights violations continue to undermine national responses. Of special concern is the first-ever decline in HIV funding in 2010, potentially jeopardizing the capacity of the international community to close access gaps and sustain progress in the coming years. Continued work is needed to maximize synergies and impact between HIV and broader health and development programmes.

The report summarizes results against the targets in the 2011 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS. Although striking progress has been achieved, the world is not on track to meet the 2015 targets, underscoring the urgent need for all stakeholders to redouble their efforts to strengthen the HIV response.

Efforts must be refocused to achieve real results and end a global epidemic of historic proportions. The response must be smarter and more strategic, streamlined, efficient and grounded in human rights. To accelerate gains and seize new opportunities generated by scientific research, it is essential to recognize the shared responsibility for the response. International donors, emerging economies, affected countries and additional stakeholders must all actively contribute, in accordance with their respective capacities. As additional resources are mobilized and essential programmes brought to scale, intensified efforts should lay the foundation for increased ownership and sustainability of the response in sub-Saharan Africa. Courage and commitment will also be needed to tackle the challenges that continue to undermine progress, including a lack of access to social justice, equality and equity.

After more than three decades of struggle, success is finally in sight.