Keynote address by WHO Director-General at the 12th International AIDS Society on HIV Science conference – 23 July 2023 – World

Opening ceremony

The Honorable Mark Butler,

Professor Sharon Lewin, President of the IAS,

Professor Charlie Gilks,

Joy Wolter,

Dear colleagues and friends,

A very good evening to all delegates in Brisbane and those joining online.

I acknowledge the traditional owners of Meanjin, the land on which you gather, and I pay homage to past, present and emerging elders.

I thank the City of Brisbane and the Governments of Queensland and Australia for hosting this conference, and Queensland Positive People for bringing the vital voices of people living with HIV to this meeting.

And I honor the memory of the six delegates who lost their lives traveling to the 20th International AIDS Conference in Melbourne nine years ago – including our own WHO colleague, Glenn Thomas.

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization.

The WHO was founded on a simple but powerful idea: that health is a fundamental right for everyone.

When our constitution came into effect in 1948, HIV was still unknown.

But since it was first identified more than 40 years ago, this same principle – the right to health – together with the power of science and the voice of affected communities – has been at the heart of the response to HIV.

The progress we have made has not only reversed the tide on HIV, it has supported the response to many other diseases, including COVID-19 and mpox.

We welcome the significant advances that will be presented at this meeting across the spectrum of basic, clinical, preventive, social and behavioral and implementation sciences.

WHO will also share updates on our work with communities to improve prevention, testing, treatment and care;

On the role of antiretroviral therapy in stopping sexual transmission;

On understanding how best to deal with the various health issues that affect people with advanced HIV disease;

And on how to strengthen health systems, based on a primary health care approach that delivers services, empowers communities and works across sectors.

We will also share new analysis on HIV and COVID-19, and another that demonstrates a clear relationship between HIV and mpox, as well as research reinforcing the central role of communities in addressing the mpox epidemic.

Science, human rights and community engagement have brought us this far.

New data from UNAIDS and WHO released last week shows how countries like Botswana, Eswatini, Rwanda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zimbabwe have already achieved the 95-95-95 targets, and at least 16 more are close to doing so.

I also commend Australia for the incredible progress it has made and its commitment to eliminating HIV transmission.

I salute the leadership of the Honorable Minister, Mark Butler, in leading this initiative alongside Australia’s community, clinical and research partners.

More and more countries around the world are preparing to validate the elimination of vertical transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.

Despite this encouraging progress, many real challenges remain.

Funding remains precarious, while many heavily affected countries are still overly dependent on external aid.

New infections and deaths are falling, but not fast enough.

And some countries and communities are experiencing an increase in the incidence of HIV.

At the same time, we face a world of multiple, overlapping crises, including conflict, migration, climate change – which have implications for the HIV response, particularly for fragile states and small island states.

As we look to the future, let me leave you with three priorities. These are the same three things that have brought us this far.

First, we must continue to harness the power of science – from basic science to behavioral science and everything in between – to develop new, more powerful tools, maximize their impact, and continue the quest for a cure and a vaccine.

Second, we must continue to listen and respond to the voices of affected communities in the design and development of tools and programs;

And thirdly, we must keep human rights at the center of our concerns.

HIV has taught us – and COVID-19 and mpox have reminded us – that health is not a luxury for those who can afford it, but in the terms of the WHO Constitution, a fundamental right of every human being, without distinction.

Thank you all for your commitment to realizing this right for all. WHO is proud to be your partner in this journey.

I thank you.