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Humana to attend the 22nd International AIDS Conference

19-07-2018

Humana People to People will be participating at the 22nd International AIDS Conference 2018 (AIDS 2018) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands from 23rd – 27th of July 2018. The AIDS 2018 Conference will be held under the theme, Breaking Barriers Building Bridges.

The International AIDS Conference is the largest conference on any global health issue in the world. It continues to provide a unique forum for the intersection of science, advocacy, and human rights. Each conference, held after every two years, is an opportunity to strengthen policies and programmes that ensure an evidence-based response to the epidemic.

AIDS 2018 aims to promote human rights based and evidence-informed HIV responses that are tailored to the needs of particularly vulnerable communities including people living with HIV, displaced populations, men who have sex with men, people in closed settings, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, women and girls and young people, and collaborate in fighting the disease beyond country borders.

Humana People to People developed the Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) concept as a direct response to the raging threat of HIV and AIDS at the turn of the new millennium. TCE is a systematic community mobilisation drive against HIV and AIDS. It targets communities with educational campaigns and activities that do not only encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle but that also instill knowledge on how to take control of the HIV and AIDS epidemic. Further the programme instigates sexual behavioural change among the key populations who are most exposed to contracting the HIV virus. The systematic community mobilisation approach is also being used in programmes combating tuberculosis, leading to the Total Control of TB concept.

Although new challenges are still associated with the HIV and AIDS issue, the world has made a remarkable progress in saving lives. Today, the world stands at a critical juncture in the HIV response. The biggest impediment to AIDS is that some people are being left behind. If we are serious about ending AIDS, the world must ensure that the incredible achievements realised until today, reach all settings and populations.

The adoption of the UNAIDS 90-90-90 targets has seen a reform of the TCE strategy. The focus is now on getting more people tested, and knowing their HIV status, ensure that people who are HIV positive receive sustained Anti-Retro Viral Therapy (ART). Ultimately this should lead to people who receive ART achieving suppressed HIV viral load, which means that the virus is no longer detectable nor contagious.

Key in the reform is the focus on working with the most at risk population groups. The TCE programme targets the marginalised.

Humana People to People remains committed to end AIDS as each new person infected is one too many.

#AIDS2018

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