We look forward to working with IAS members this year to achieve these commitments together.

  1. Linking to a broader global agenda

The IAS—Lancet Commission on the Future of Global Health and the HIV Response was convened to examine how to integrate HIV with global health and to identify the unique attributes of the HIV response that must be preserved and mainstreamed across the health field. It will launch this year.

  1. Pushing science to drive policy

This year, IAS will join with partners to launch the “Expert Consensus Statement on the Science of HIV in the Context of the Criminal Law,” authored by leading scientists around the world. The document outlines how the broad use of criminal law, often grounded in an exaggerated appreciation of risk, contributes to misinformation about HIV and undermines public health. It is our hope that the expert statement will become the gold standard reference.

  1. Uniting scientists, advocates and health care workers at AIDS 2018

Many groups experiencing high HIV burdens also lack sexual and reproductive health services. These include men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people who inject drugs and young women and adolescent girls. IAS will embrace the interconnectedness that advances the conversation on how efforts to bring an end to AIDS will directly contribute to realizing the full Sustainable Development Agenda. This includes our new partnership with Women Deliver, Generation Now.

  1. Investing in prevention prioritization

IAS will now host the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise, combining organizational efforts to increase support for researchers, scientists and advocates working to develop an effective preventive HIV vaccine.

A vaccine, like other innovative prevention approaches in development, will not be a substitute for other forms of prevention but will provide a powerful new tool that can hasten reaching a genuine tipping point in the global epidemic. This commitment expands upon our ongoing work focused on developing and delivering an HIV cure.

  1. Making research available

We will continue to freely disseminate, through the Journal of the International AIDS Society, groundbreaking and important research findings.

The focus is on operational and implementation science, which provides valuable information on algorithms for monitoring and delivering comprehensive yet affordable and sustainable treatment, prevention and care programs in different contexts. Similarly, the IAS Educational Fund will continue operating for the third year.

Through these efforts, we are translating the most recent research from a global level to a local context.

  1. Making people-centered care

IAS is committed to garnering political will and increasing the scale-up of differentiated service delivery to improve access to and quality of services for people living with and most vulnerable to HIV. Differentiated service delivery is fundamentally client-centered, aiming to better serve the needs of people living with HIV while reducing unnecessary burdens on the health system. If this client-centered approach leads to cost-saving efficiency gains, then all stakeholders stand to benefit. Conversely, if investment requires additional resources, IAS remains resolute on ensuring that these resources are available.