GEC launches new HIV policy guidebook for high-income countries

The Global Equality Caucus has published a new HIV policy guidebook targeted at high-income countries at a launch event in the European Parliament.

The new publication, Going the extra mile: A policy guide for legislators to end the HIV epidemic, is a short and accessible information resource for legislators in G7 and EU countries, and puts forward specific policy suggestions to help accelerate domestic HIV responses.

The document highlights the concerning fact that the majority of G7 and EU countries are not on course to meet UNAIDS targets to end HIV as a public health threat by 2030, and identifies various interventions for legislators to pressure governments into action.

Significant barriers to a successful HIV response - including the lack of a dedicated HIV action plan, the limited availability of PrEP, and low levels of HIV awareness amongst healthcare providers - are tied to solutions grouped under key enablers for progress: sustainable funding, innovation, and differentiated service delivery models.

The guidebook makes clear that four interventions stand out as common and central priorities: allocating resources to PrEP promotion to increase uptake; an opt-out approach to HIV testing; expanding HIV care delivery beyond traditional healthcare settings; and defining and implementing tools to measure health-related quality of life.

Members of the European Parliament heard these headline policy goals at a roundtable launch for the guidebook in Strasbourg.

Hosted by Alessandro Zan MEP, the roundtable highlighted the utility of the guidebook for legislators, and examined what MEPs should be doing to pressure the European Commission into sustaining an EU-wide HIV response.

Chief among the asks was for MEPs to push the Commission into adopting a dedicated HIV Action Plan, consolidating HIV targets and providing a common framework for monitoring and evaluation of progress.

MEPs were joined by stakeholders from UNAIDS, the Council of Europe’s SOGIESC Unit, the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, and Gilead Sciences.

Christine Stegling, Deputy Executive Director at UNAIDS, warned attendees that reduced funding in the international HIV response could lead to millions of excess AIDS deaths by 2029, and legislators should use international networks such as the Global Parliamentary Platform on HIV/AIDS to collectively push for governments in high-income countries to expand their commitments rather than scale them back.

LGBT+ people are disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic and continue to account for the majority of new HIV diagnoses outside of sub-Saharan Africa. Equipped with this new manual, the Global Equality Caucus will continue to push for an equitable and inclusive HIV response in its work with legislators.

The Going the extra mile guidebook was sponsored by Gilead Sciences and is adapted from an existing research report, Going the extra mile to end the HIV epidemic, which was commissioned by Gilead and prepared by Boston Consulting Group in 2024.