Source: UNAIDS LAC

Time for acceleration of the HIV response in LAC

In this interview to UNAIDS LAC Update, UNAIDS Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Luisa Cabal, speaks about the key messages and call to actions from the Global AIDS Update 2023.

The overall numbers show that our region needs to accelerate its efforts to prevent HIV, tackle punitive laws, discrimination, and violence, and invest in what we already know works to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The numbers in this report show that we are especially failing key populations and children living with HIV. But despite the lack of data, we also know that intersecting inequalities directly affect other populations accessing HIV services, such as indigenous peoples, people of African descent, migrants, and women.

Staying on autopilot—doing business as usual—risks ruining over three decades of efforts to respond to HIV. To end AIDS by 2023, all sectors and national and international partners must work together in a coordinated and joint way to deliver targeted and effective programmes to all people affected by HIV, especially those left behind since the start of the pandemic. 

The end of AIDS is an opportunity for a uniquely powerful legacy for today’s leaders, who future generations can remember as those who put a stop to the world’s deadliest pandemic, saving millions of lives and protecting the health of everyone. 

Learn more about the report  The Path that Ends AIDS. The related press release is available in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese.  You can also find the Executive Summary in Spanish, French, and Portuguese.