WHO is participating at the 25th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2024) taking place in Munich, Germany and virtually from 20 to 26 July. At a series of pre-conference sessions and WHO-led satellite events, the Organization will share its latest epidemiological, scientific and normative work, and discuss findings from its latest progress report on the implementation of the Global Health Sector Strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections (STIs), 2022–2030, highlighting that these epidemics continue to pose significant public health challenges, causing 2.5 million deaths annually. Progress across disease areas is varied, underscoring the need for increased political will and commitment to accelerate efforts.
Featured session
On Tuesday, 23 July, at 13:30 CEST, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, will participate in the IAS Special Session entitled Inequities Forever? alongside global leaders, including former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. The session will focus on the need for strategies beyond public health interventions to address the structural inequities that continue to drive the HIV pandemic, and how inequity marred the COVID-19 response.
Overview of key scientific and normative updates being released by WHO at AIDS 2024 conference
Updated WHO guidelines on HIV testing services
In its new Consolidated guidelines on differentiated HIV testing services, WHO recommends expanding network-based testing to reach partners and social contacts of people with HIV and STIs, and calls for broadening self-testing to include syphilis and dual HIV/syphilis tests.
HIV post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) guidance
WHO's updated HIV PEP guidelines prioritize broader access to PEP, including community-based delivery and task sharing to mitigate barriers such as stigma and to ensure timely access post-exposure. New recommendations advocate for community delivery and task sharing to enhance accessibility. The document also outlines guidance on transitioning from PEP to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and from PrEP to PEP, as well as promoting the use of HIV self-testing as part of PEP and PrEP programming.
PrEP Implementation Tool: Provider module
The 2024 update of the Provider module in the WHO PrEP Implementation Tool replaces the 2017 Clinical module and integrates recent WHO guidance on differentiated and simplified PrEP services, guidelines for key populations, and recommendations on dapivirine vaginal ring (DVR) and long-acting injectable cabotegravir (CAB-LA).
Technical brief on reducing HIV-related stigma and discrimination
A new technical brief Ensuring Quality and Equitable Health Care by Reducing HIV-Related Stigma and Discrimination outlines three priority areas for health facility managers and providers to ensure stigma-free services: focusing on people to improve quality of life, integrating stigma reduction into facility-based approaches, and engaging structures and systems to create an enabling environment for quality care.
Guidance and new framework on STIs
Amid recent data showing an increase in STIs and rising resistance to the last line of treatment for Neisseria gonorrhoeae in many regions, WHO has updated recommendations for treating N. gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and syphilis. New treatment guidelines for other STIs such as Trichomonas vaginalis, Mycoplasma genitalium, Candida albicans, bacterial vaginosis, and anogenital warts will also be released, complementing the 2021 WHO Guidelines for the management of symptomatic STIs.
For the first time, a framework for monitoring STIs and strengthening surveillance will be published, which provides 11 core indicators for annual monitoring, supporting progress towards ending STIs as a public health concern by 2030. Additionally, WHO is organizing a pre-conference meeting to mobilize action against STIs. The discussions will focus on three critical accelerators in STI control: political commitment, innovation acceleration, and community mobilization. With the objective of catalyzing efforts to meet WHO's global STI targets by 2030, this meeting will cover the latest developments in STI prevention, diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, service delivery models, artificial intelligence, and antimicrobial resistance. It will also feature the launch of the WHO global STI research priority agenda, highlighting the most crucial STI research areas. This agenda calls for focus, investment, and innovation to address the global STI epidemic.
Mpox survey in Europe and the Americas
Following the rapid decline in new diagnoses of mpox in Europe and the Americas in late 2022, WHO conducted a retrospective survey in 23 countries in these regions. The survey, advertised through geospatial dating apps, revealed significant regional differences in vaccination rates and behavioural adaptations, which were crucial in understanding transmission dynamics and the sharp decline in mpox transmission by the end of 2022. WHO proposes that the decline in transmission in these regions occurred primarily due to community-led behavioural adaptation and naturally acquired immunity in affected sexual networks, showcasing the need to urgently increase access to vaccination in ongoing and future outbreaks to protect communities.
WHO delegation to the conference
The following senior WHO officials are leading the WHO delegation to the conference:
- Dr Tedros Adhom Gebreyesus, WHO Director-General;
- Dr Jerome Salomon, WHO Assistant Director-General, Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Disease;
- Dr Hans Henri Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe; and
- Dr Meg Doherty, Director, WHO Global HIV, Hepatitis and Sexually Transmitted Infections Programmes.
