An “invisible turning point” in the fight against HIV/AIDS recently occurred:  “the realisation that simply strengthening the vertical programme that is AIDS has to end. The new opportunity is integration,” a Lancet editorial states.

“Part of the reason for a change in strategy is a matter of brutal reality. Investment in AIDS is in decline relative to other spheres of global health. But the incredible success of the AIDS movement also means that it is in a strong position to embrace – warmly and generously – other sectors of global health. AIDS can be the engine that broadens a front to defeat the diseases of poverty,” the editorial continues. It concludes by calling on UNAIDS “to unveil a potentially new leadership role in global health – … one that puts AIDS at the leading edge of a new movement for integrating health responses to disease” (6/18).