Unaids meet discusses global health

The First Lady, Jeannette Kagame, yesterday joined the other Unaids and Lancet Commissioners in London for a meeting to discuss the future of HIV/Aids and global health. The two-day meeting, which ends today, tackles three key issues; what it will take to end HIV/Aids, how lessons from the Aids response can inform global health, and how the global health and Aids architecture can be modernised to achieve sustainable global health, according to a statement. The Unaids and Lancet Commission was established in May 2013 to draw lessons from the Aids experience and find ways to achieve sustainable health. The first Commission meeting was held in Lilongwe, Malawi in June 2013. Mrs. Kagame is one of the high-level commissioners. “We have managed to provide care and treatment to people living with HIV/Aids. They are still immuno-compromised and becoming increasingly susceptible to non-communicable diseases. We must be responsive and adapt to the changing nature of the disease. Now we know how to prevent, how to treat and how to care for people living with the virus,” she said at last year’s meeting. There are 30 commissioners known for their significant contributions to and leadership in HIV/Aids, including politicians, scientists, medical professionals, donors and members of civil society. These include Presidents of Benin, Ghana, and Switzerland, Prime Minister of Jamaica, First Ladies of Gabon, Japan and Rwanda, Global Fund Executive Director, AfDB President, Ministers of Health and Special advisors to the UN. Michel Sidibe of Unaids, Richard Horton of the Lancet, Peter Piot of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical medicine convened the meeting where key themes were discussed. These include involving everybody, sustainably financing the Aids response, systems innovation, the future of health and trade, local production and programme delivery and Aids response as a catalyst for grand convergence in global health.

National

Unaids meet discusses global health