Sixty-first Regional Committee for Europe: Baku, 12–15 September 2011: resolution: European action plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZAT ION REG IONAL OFF ICE FOR EUROPE Scherfigsvej 8, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Telephone: +45 39 17 17 17 Fax: +45 39 17 18 18 E-mail: rc@euro.who.int Web: http://www.euro.who.int/en/who-we-are/governance Regional Committee for Europe EUR/RC61/R8 Sixty-first session Baku, Azerbaijan, 12–15 September 2011 15 September 2011 112571 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Resolution European action plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015 The Regional Committee, Recalling the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS adopted by the special session of the United Nations General Assembly in June 2001; Recalling the Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the High-Level Meeting on AIDS in June 2011; Recalling World Health Assembly resolutions WHA54.10 and WHA55.12 that called for scaling up of the response to HIV/AIDS, and resolutions WHA53.14, WHA56.30, WHA59.12 and WHA59.19, which endorsed a series of strategies that have guided WHO’s work on HIV/AIDS; Considering that the WHO “3 by 5” strategy, launched in 2003, which focused on expanding access to antiretroviral treatment, was developed in the context of the Global Heath Sector Strategy for HIV/AIDS (2003–2007), endorsed by the Fifty-sixth World Health Assembly (resolution WHA56.30); Recalling that in 2006 the United Nations General Assembly adopted the target of universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2010, and that WHO developed the Universal Access Plan 2006–2010, welcomed by the Fifty-ninth World Health Assembly, which has guided WHO’s work since then; EUR/RC61/R8 page 2 Taking account of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) HIV/AIDS Strategy for 2011–2015, the Global Health Sector Strategy for HIV/AIDS 2011– 2015 and the European Commission Communication on combating HIV/AIDS in the European Union and neighbouring countries 2009–2013; Recalling its resolution on scaling up the response to HIV/AIDS in the European Region (EUR/RC52/R9); Acknowledging Member States’ existing commitments to the 2004 Dublin Declaration on Partnership to Fight HIV/AIDS in Europe and Central Asia and to achieving the Millennium Development Goals; Concerned that HIV remains an increasingly serious public health challenge in the WHO European Region, with (in its eastern part) the fastest growing epidemic in the world; Recognizing that HIV in Europe disproportionately affects key populations (people who inject drugs and their sexual partners, men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, prisoners and migrants) who are socially marginalized and whose behaviour is socially stigmatized or illegal; Concerned that key populations most at risk of HIV face structural barriers to accessing HIV prevention, treatment and care services, which further widens social inequalities, and that access to life-saving antiretroviral therapy in low- and middle-income countries of the Region is among the poorest globally; Recognizing that HIV impacts the control and health outcomes of other communicable diseases, particularly tuberculosis, and that HIV poses a considerable resource burden on health systems; Acknowledging the over-dependence on external international funding for HIV programmes in some parts of the Region; Acknowledging that all countries in the Region can seize opportunities for action by using existing evidence and experience derived from successful projects and interventions implemented throughout the Region; EUR/RC61/R8 page 3 1. ADOPTS the European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015 as a plan for the European Region for the implementation of the Global Health Sector Strategy for HIV/AIDS 2011-2015 and the UNAIDS 2011-2015 strategy as adopted by the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) as well as the resolutions adopted at the World Health Assembly as call for urgent action to the Member States in the European Region to respond to the public health challenge of HIV/AIDS in Europe; 2. RECOMMENDS Member States1: (a) to reinforce their political commitment and ensure the financial and human resources required to achieve the European goals of halting and beginning to reverse the spread of HIV and achieving universal, equitable access to comprehensive HIV prevention, treatment and care by 2015, in line with Millennium Development Goal 6 and linked with other health-related goals (MDGs 3, 4, 5 and 8); (b) to ensure that prevention programmes target key populations at higher HIV risk and include a comprehensive harm reduction package of interventions for people who inject drugs and interventions to reduce sexual transmission of HIV in sex workers and men who have sex with men; (c) to further develop integration and linkage of HIV programmes with other health programmes, particularly those on tuberculosis, drug dependence, sexual and reproductive health, maternal, child and adolescent health, viral hepatitis and noncommunicable and chronic diseases; (d) to increase efforts to strengthen health systems to benefit HIV and the broader public health response, including strong HIV strategic information systems, delivery of services that meet patients’ and clients’ needs and uninterrupted quality-assured supply of affordable HIV medicines, diagnostics and other commodities; (e) to take any necessary action on laws and regulations that present obstacles to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care, and support, and to strengthen the implementation of protective laws and regulations, including those addressing stigma and discrimination, in line with principles of public health and human rights; 1 And, where applicable, regional economic integration organizations EUR/RC61/R8 page 4 (f) to engage in partnerships, public and private, using a multisectoral approach and to increase the participation of people living with HIV, key populations and civil society actors in policy development, decision-making and coordination, service delivery, and monitoring and evaluation of national HIV strategies and plans; 3. REQUESTS the Regional Director: (a) to actively support the implementation of the Plan in the Region by providing leadership, strategic direction and technical guidance to Member States; (b) to engage in global and regional partnerships and to advocate for commitment and resources to strengthen and sustain the response to HIV; (c) to identify and facilitate the exchange of best practices and experiences among Member States and to produce evidence-informed tools for an effective HIV response; (d) to monitor and evaluate Member States’ progress towards reaching European goals and targets through a harmonized process of data collection, reporting and analysis; (e) to report back to the Regional Committee at its sixty-fourth and sixty-sixth sessions in 2014 and 2016 on the implementation of the European Action Plan for HIV/AIDS 2012–2015.