Ana Lorena Guerrero Torres

This symposium focused on keeping the momentum towards achieving global HIV care continuum targets to prevent HIV resurgence, emphasizing the critical role of funders and governments, such as understanding the epidemic and evaluating the impact of interventions. Country-level modelling and collaboration with the private sector were highlighted as essential strategies.

This session, moderated by Lobna Gaayeb and Jirair Ratevosian, started with Christine Stegling from UNAIDS warning that neglecting HIV will lead to a resurgence. She emphasized the critical role of addressing structural barriers and the need for real financial investments to tackle human rights violations. Rebecca Bunnell from PEPFAR shared five key actions for donors to sustain the response: knowing the epidemic and context, examining the intervention impact, advancing equity, promoting sustainability and evolving and being bold. Where data is not available, she stressed the importance of supporting science to assess intervention impact and build evidence on how to reach and sustain 2030 goals. From the Vietnam Administration for AIDS Control, Ann Duong Thuy presented modelled scenarios for ending AIDS, highlighting areas where actions would have more impact. Vietnam's approach includes collaborating with the private sector and seeking new resources to scale prevention efforts. Linked to this, Rebecca underscored the importance of country-level modelling for PEPFAR’s planning and the necessity of placing equity at the centre of programming. To end the session, Barbara Lee from the US House of Representatives provided closing remarks, noting, “We have to finally beat HIV and AIDS”, and invited everyone not to retreat and surrender.

This session underscored the persistent challenges in the global fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly the need for innovative funding strategies and greater political commitment. It highlighted gaps in reaching KP and the critical role of community-led initiatives in bridging gaps in access and equity. This session also raised important challenges for governments in investing and funding prevention strategies due to regulations and social insurance policies. The discussions emphasised the urgent need for a coordinated, sustainable approach integrating HIV services into broader health systems.