28/07/2026
is underway!
The Aurum and Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) exhibition stand is open throughout the week. Visit us to learn more about how communities and partners are working together to strengthen advanced HIV disease care across Africa.
The opening session set a tone for the week ahead. As Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, reminded delegates, "The mission to end AIDS has not changed. It remains a threat. Let us finish the job!"
Claudia Cortés echoed the importance of putting communities at the centre of the response: "The HIV response must remain inclusive of those who are affected the most. Nothing about us without us… Let us rise together with community and science."
Those messages carried through to discussions on advanced HIV disease. At the Sustaining Gains in Advanced HIV Disease side event, co-hosted by CHAI, Integral Global and Aurum, Remilekun Peregrino, IMPAACT4HIV Programme Director, highlighted that sustaining AHD programmes beyond funding disruptions depends on strengthening guidelines, investment, implementation and innovation.
Partners reinforced the importance of collaboration. Afrocab Treatment Access Partnership, through the THRIVE Project, highlighted community leadership, engagement and demand creation as central to the AHD response, while Integral Global, through the Zero CM Deaths Initiative, emphasised the need for sustained country support and mentorship to eliminate cryptococcal meningitis deaths.
International AIDS Conference