Lawmakers from across the globe meet to fight HIV/AIDS

Event at World Health Summit fosters important dialogue on push to end HIV

Scene from the World Health Summit 2025 in Berlin, Germany.
Lawmakers from around the world met at an event during the World Health Summit in Berlin October 12-14 to foster dialogue on how to mobilize political will, defend equal rights, and build inclusive and sustainable responses to HIV.
The event was organized by UNAIDS, UNITE – Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, the Global Equality Caucus, and STOPAIDS, under the umbrella of the Global Parliamentarians Platform on HIV and AIDS. Participants focused on reinforcing global collaboration to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and advance human rights for populations most affected by HIV.
Parliamentarians from ten countries participated in the event, including Germany, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mexico, Namibia, Sweden, the United States, Uganda and Zimbabwe. Some of these countries participated despite deteriorating human rights records and amid official persecution of queer people, including Uganda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Liberia.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima spoke at the event and described parliamentarians a cornerstone of international efforts to end AIDS, pushing for efforts to secure substantial funding, technical expertise, and political advocacy to ensure equitable access to life-saving HIV treatment and prevention services.
UNAIDS Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima says that to protect LGBTQ+ people’s health, we must protect LGBTQ+ people’s rights. (Courtesy UNAIDS/Youtube)
“As we work towards ending AIDS by 2030, partnerships with governments that prioritize human rights and equity remain critical,” Byanyima said.
Participants underscored the urgent need for renewed global commitment to HIV financing and to strengthening cooperation between the global north and south.
“Over the past 30 years, the HIV response has offered one of the greatest lessons in global health. Today, parliamentarians hold both the responsibility and the power to advance and revitalize that response. This dialogue reaffirms and strengthens that commitment,” UNITE Executive Director Dr. Guilherme Duarte noted.
Parliamentarians reaffirmed their commitment to advancing policies that address structural inequalities and protect vulnerable populations. Discussions focused on improving access to HIV services, eliminating stigma and discrimination, and ensuring the protection of rights for women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people, who continue to face disproportionate barriers in accessing healthcare.
They also echoed UNAIDS’ call for long-acting injectable medicines that are effective in preventing new HIV infections to be affordable and available for all. UNAIDS estimates that if 20 million people in highest need, including men who have sex with men, sex workers, people who inject drugs and young women and adolescent girls in sub-Saharan Africa have access to antiretroviral prevention medicines, it could dramatically reduce new infections and significantly advance progress towards ending AIDS by 2030.
“Game-changing medicines like Lenacapavir have created the very real possibility of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030,” said Mike Podmore, CEO of STOPAIDS.
But overseas development aid reductions risk undermining and even reversing existing progress, he said.
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“Parliamentarians, uniting in partnership around the world through mechanisms like The Global Parliamentary Platform for HIV, are essential voices to make sure their governments play their part and invest now to reach the incredible goal of ending AIDS,” Podmore said.
Photographer recording the World Health Summit.
“An equitable HIV response should remain a key priority in the actions of governments to address the disproportionate impact that HIV has on marginalised communities, such as LGBT+ people,” said Aron le Fèvre, Executive Director of the Global Equality Caucus.
Parliamentarians have an important role holding governments to account, and forums such as the Global Parliamentary Platform are crucial to developing the partnerships needed to support lawmakers in their parliamentary and policy advocacy.
UNAIDS emphasized the importance of sustained political leadership, international cooperation, and rights-centered approaches in the fight against AIDS.
UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.