The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is a critical leader in driving a comprehensive global response to HIV/AIDS. UNAIDS is a unique and innovative partnership of eleven UN agencies that draws on the comparative advantages of each for coordinated and targeted action to address specific challenges of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The United States plays a critical and active role in the governance and oversight of UNAIDS through its participation as a Member State in the biannual UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) meetings, including by serving as the Board’s Vice-Chair in 2019 and Chair in 2020. In this forum, the United States promotes evidence-based policies and strategies that ensure an effective global response to HIV/AIDS, including the provision of comprehensive HIV prevention, care, and treatment services that are free from stigma and discrimination. The United States places a special emphasis on women and girl-centered approaches, country ownership, accountability, and smarter use of resources for an effective and synergistic global HIV/AIDS response.

UNAIDS’ policy framework and the political commitment to ending the global HIV/AIDS epidemic complements and enables PEPFAR and programmatic efforts of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Through PEPFAR, the U.S. government supports and advances the UNAIDS 90-90-90 goals: 90 percent of people with HIV diagnosed; 90 percent of those diagnosed on antiretroviral treatment (ART); and 90 percent of those on ART virally suppressed by 2020.

PEPFAR prioritizes working with and through others to build political will, particularly for much needed policies that will help control the pandemic and sustain our joint impact on treatment and prevention, establish international norms, and ensure a broad-based multisector response to enhance and support service delivery.

UNAIDS advocacy and policy support serves a critical role helping countries to plan for and provide their own resources toward sustainability in the HIV response. This effort has resulted in eleven countries funding at least fifty percent of their own national HIV/AIDS responses, getting us closer to the goal of sustainability and country-led response‎.

UNAIDS also serves as an invaluable resource for HIV data, including for PEPFAR programming. UNAIDS works with countries on results monitoring and reporting to help track progress on defined milestones and targets, informing priorities and supporting data-driven and targeted implementation of programs.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is the normative body for developing guidelines for HIV prevention and treatment and UNAIDS is a key partner in operationalizing those guidelines, helping countries adopt them into their own HIV programs. The WHO guidelines underlie PEPFAR’s country operational plans to have people tested for HIV, on ART, and virally suppressed.