#HIV is not a solved problem! Learn more from our CEO, Deborah Waterhouse on our ambition to #EndHIV 👇
“Let’s make HIV everyone’s business.” These words - shared with me by the inspirational DOREEN MORAA – coupled with recent UNAIDS data showing the number of people living with HIV has risen to 40million, have stuck with me over the last few weeks following the AIDS 2024 conference. There is some good news - 1) c.30million people living with HIV are on lifesaving treatment; 2) nearly ¾ have a suppressed viral load; 3) 39% fewer people acquired HIV in 2023 vs. 2010. Having just come back from Malawi - seeing firsthand the impact of our medicines - I’m incredibly proud that the biggest reduction in HIV transmission is in sub-Saharan Africa, where we’ve been partnering with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) for over 10 years to ensure access to our products through voluntary licences. This partnership now includes our long-acting prevention medicine, and we are working with generic partners on development. Until generic versions are available, we have made our medicine available at a non-profit price for public programmes and it is currently being administered in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Eswatini and Ukraine with more to come before the end of the year. But the 40million cannot be ignored - HIV is not “solved”. In 2023, programmes were missing 9.3million people who need treatment and at least half of key populations were not being reached with prevention services. The consequences of failing to achieve the 95-95-95 goals (currently at 86-89-93) are catastrophic - by 2050, 46million people could be living with HIV putting more pressure on already stretched healthcare budgets and systems. Inaction simply isn’t an option - we must ensure treatment and prevention options become available to those who need them most as quickly as possible. We are committed to doing our part – at ViiV Healthcare, our model allows for flexible and sustainable approaches to pricing as well as intellectual property (IP) through the use of voluntary licensing agreements. However, we can’t do it alone and will continue to work with our partners and communities to realise our shared goal of ending HIV and AIDS. #WeWontStop fighting to ensure no person living with HIV is left behind. You can find out more about our work to #EndTheEpidemic here: https://lnkd.in/eShG-T3t