We look forward to working with IAS members over the course of this year to achieve these commitments together.

1. Linking HIV with the broader global health agenda

To sustain the HIV response and to elevate health as a global priority, the HIV community needs to increasingly make common cause with the broader global health field. The IAS-Lancet Commission on the Future of Global Health and the HIV Response was convened to critically examine how best 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. The commission aims to advance the vision of sustainable health for all. It will launch this year and is assessing where and how HIV should be integrated with broader health programmes; the aim is to identify synergies to benefit both HIV and non-HIV-related health outcomes. Modelling teams convened by the Commission will quantify the health and economic benefits of a more integrated, more accountable approach to HIV and health.

2. Pushing science to drive policy

This year, the 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 for clarifying key issues of HIV science for the benefit of all actors involved in the criminal law, including police, prosecutors, lawyers, judges, expert witnesses, lawmakers and advocates. The ultimate test of this statement will be the degree to which harmful policies and practices are jettisoned. The IAS will work with country advocacy and human rights partners as watchdogs on this critical issue to ensure that science informs policy change and best practice.

3. Uniting interdisciplinary scientists, community advocates and frontline healthcare workers at AIDS 2018

Many of the populations experiencing some of the highest HIV burdens are also those whose well-being is at risk due to a persistent absence of comprehensive 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. At 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam, the IAS will embrace the spirit of interconnectedness and promote an interactive experience 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. This is a two-year initiative uniting our global platforms – AIDS 2018 and Women Deliver 2019 – to support the protection of sexual and reproductive health and rights for adolescent girls and young women.

4. Investing in prevention prioritization

The 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 HIV 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 and expanding research opportunities and treatment options to address paediatric HIV.

5. Making groundbreaking HIV research available

We will continue to freely disseminate, through the Journal of the International AIDS Society, ground breaking and important research findings from a range of disciplines in the HIV field. The specific focus is on operational and implementation science, which provides valuable information on various algorithms for monitoring and delivering comprehensive yet affordable and sustainable treatment, prevention and care programmes in different contexts. Similarly, the IAS Educational Fund will continue operating for the third year, offering interactive knowledge toolkits and dynamic regional fora based on the latest science presented at the IAS and AIDS conferences. Through these efforts, we are translating the most recent research from a global level to a local context to increase accessibility for clinicians and other healthcare providers.

6. Making the money work for people-centred healthcare

The 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-centred, aiming to better serve the needs of people living with HIV while reducing unnecessary burdens on the health system. If this client-centred approach leads to cost-saving efficiency gains, then all stakeholders stand to benefit. Conversely, if investment in a client-centred approach requires additional resources to empower communities and ensure that no one is left behind, the IAS remains resolute on ensuring that these resources are available.

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