The following opinion pieces discuss different aspects of HIV prevention, care, and treatment.

The Conversation: It takes a global village: how we got ahead in HIV control
William Bowtell, executive director of Pacific Friends of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at UNSW Australia

“…The world is now more than halfway along the path from AIDS to HIV, but none of these great achievements would have been possible without sustained funding commitments, stretching out over years and decades. … To consolidate our gains, and to drive new HIV infection rates down still further, billions of new dollars will be needed. But … we must develop innovative and imaginative new methods of securing critical funding. The international response to HIV has always been a hotbed of radical policy innovation and implementation — from the bold prevention initiatives undertaken in Australia to the creation of the Global Fund itself. By following the right strategies, backed by adequate funding, the world is closer towards the end of HIV and AIDS than at any time in the last three decades. Now is not the time to relent” (7/23).

Devex: Scientific solutions can only go so far if HIV stigma and discrimination remain
Stefan Seebacher, head of the health department at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

“…Stigma, discrimination, and fear of criminal punishment still prevent so many people, especially hard-to-reach communities such as men who have sex with men, transgender people, and sex workers, from coming forward to get critical testing and the help they need to access services and start treatment. Scientific progress and the development of HIV prevention and treatment tools can only be effective, and save lives, if people come forward to benefit from them. Cultural prejudice, religious taboos, and abominable laws that criminalize homosexuality are denying people their fundamental right to good health and it is imperative that our demands for these kinds of restrictions to be lifted are heard…” (7/25).