Empowering communities in HIV response

COMMUNITIES are the drivers of progress in the AIDS response. They connect people to public health services, build trust, innovate, monitor the implementation of policies and services and hold service providers accountable.

Letting communities lead builds healthier and stronger societies. However, communities are not fully leveraged for their expertise and leadership.

Community-led responses are under-recognised and under-resourced. Funding of community-led initiatives is leaving them struggling to continue operating and expanding into areas and populations that most need their support. This threatens the gains made in the national HIV response from the last decade and jeopardises the impact of the HIV programme for years to come.

Common obstacles

Globally, funding channelled through communities has fallen in the past 10 years from 31% in 2012 to 20% in 2021. These funding shortages, policy and regulatory hurdles, capacity constraints and crackdowns on civil society and the human rights of marginalised communities are obstructing the progress of HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

It is in everyone’s interests to fully fund community-led organisations and remove the many obstacles they face. It is by enabling communities to lead that the promise to end AIDS can be realised.

This is why communities were at the centre of World AIDS Day commemorations this year, and were featured in a major new UNAIDS (United Nations AIDS) report titled “Let Communities Lead”.

The report set out facts and figures that demonstrated the impact of communities and shared how progress was being driven by them through case studies from across the world and through guest essays by nine pioneering community leaders.

The report also noted that there was a need to recognise the contributions made by these communities and pull down the barriers that stand in their way.

Solutions:

The leadership role of communities needs to be core in all HIV plans and programmes and their formulation, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;

Communities need to be fully and reliably funded to allow them to scale up their services, and for workers to be properly remunerated for their contributions;

Barriers to community leadership need to be removed. There must be an enabling regulatory and legal environment that allows communities the space to operate and protect human rights for all.

It has been a long-standing principle of the AIDS response to bring people living with and affected by HIV to the decision-making table.

‘Nothing about us without us’

Where this motto is being followed, progress is being made. Supporting communities in their leadership is not only the right thing to do but also essential for advancing public health.

AIDS is far from over.

In Malaysia, it is estimated that 11 young people aged 15–24 years become infected with HIV every week. In 2022, 18% of new HIV infections were among young people, of whom 79% of them were men.

We need to invest more in communities to unleash the full potential of community leadership to address the gaps we still have in the national HIV response.

To sustain community-led responses, we have to encourage a sense of ownership. This will motivate communities to invest in a future that is free of HIV by protecting themselves and their loved ones as well as preventing transmission to others.

Investment and support

World AIDS Day is observed annually on Dec 1. We call upon the government, development partners and civil society organisations to invest in and support the role of community leadership in the national HIV response.

For decades, our synergy with communities, especially people living with HIV and key populations, has strengthened the HIV response, built necessary capacities and harnessed the power of community advocacy. None of this would be possible without the political, financial and technical support.

As we move forward in our path to end the AIDS epidemic, let us remember the journey, the milestones and the lessons.

More importantly, let us recognise that community-led initiatives are not a supplementary effort but an integral part of the solution.

We must continue to invest in promoting community-led responses to HIV that drive us closer to a world of healthy lives. By working hand in hand with communities, we can achieve a future where HIV is no longer a global threat, but a historic achievement.

The writer is UNAIDS country director for Cambodia, Lao PDR and Malaysia. Comments: COMMUNITIES are the drivers of progress in the AIDS response. They connect people to public health services, build trust, innovate, monitor the implementation of policies and services and hold service providers accountable.

Letting communities lead builds healthier and stronger societies. However, communities are not fully leveraged for their expertise and leadership.

Community-led responses are under-recognised and under-resourced. Funding of community-led initiatives is leaving them struggling to continue operating and expanding into areas and populations that most need their support. This threatens the gains made in the national HIV response from the last decade and jeopardises the impact of the HIV programme for years to come.

Common obstacles

Globally, funding channelled through communities has fallen in the past 10 years from 31% in 2012 to 20% in 2021. These funding shortages, policy and regulatory hurdles, capacity constraints and crackdowns on civil society and the human rights of marginalised communities are obstructing the progress of HIV prevention, treatment and care services.

It is in everyone’s interests to fully fund community-led organisations and remove the many obstacles they face. It is by enabling communities to lead that the promise to end AIDS can be realised.

This is why communities were at the centre of World AIDS Day commemorations this year, and were featured in a major new UNAIDS (United Nations AIDS) report titled “Let Communities Lead”.

The report set out facts and figures that demonstrated the impact of communities and shared how progress was being driven by them through case studies from across the world and through guest essays by nine pioneering community leaders.

The report also noted that there was a need to recognise the contributions made by these communities and pull down the barriers that stand in their way.

Solutions:

The leadership role of communities needs to be core in all HIV plans and programmes and their formulation, budgeting, implementation, monitoring and evaluation;

Communities need to be fully and reliably funded to allow them to scale up their services, and for workers to be properly remunerated for their contributions;

Barriers to community leadership need to be removed. There must be an enabling regulatory and legal environment that allows communities the space to operate and protect human rights for all.

It has been a long-standing principle of the AIDS response to bring people living with and affected by HIV to the decision-making table.

‘Nothing about us without us’

Where this motto is being followed, progress is being made. Supporting communities in their leadership is not only the right thing to do but also essential for advancing public health.

AIDS is far from over.

In Malaysia, it is estimated that 11 young people aged 15–24 years become infected with HIV every week. In 2022, 18% of new HIV infections were among young people, of whom 79% of them were men.

We need to invest more in communities to unleash the full potential of community leadership to address the gaps we still have in the national HIV response.

To sustain community-led responses, we have to encourage a sense of ownership. This will motivate communities to invest in a future that is free of HIV by protecting themselves and their loved ones as well as preventing transmission to others.

Investment and support

World AIDS Day is observed annually on Dec 1. We call upon the government, development partners and civil society organisations to invest in and support the role of community leadership in the national HIV response.

For decades, our synergy with communities, especially people living with HIV and key populations, has strengthened the HIV response, built necessary capacities and harnessed the power of community advocacy. None of this would be possible without the political, financial and technical support.

As we move forward in our path to end the AIDS epidemic, let us remember the journey, the milestones and the lessons.

More importantly, let us recognise that community-led initiatives are not a supplementary effort but an integral part of the solution.

We must continue to invest in promoting community-led responses to HIV that drive us closer to a world of healthy lives. By working hand in hand with communities, we can achieve a future where HIV is no longer a global threat, but a historic achievement.

The writer is UNAIDS country director for Cambodia, Lao PDR and Malaysia. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

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