UNAIDS Hosts First High-level Meeting of UN Joint Programme on HIV in China

The UN agencies of the joint programme were joined by the partners in China including the government, community organizations, academia and the private sector. Thanks to joint efforts, China has made commendable progress in the following five priority areas in the past two years: HIV testing and treatment, eMTCT (Elimination of mother-to-child transmission), HIV prevention among young people and key populations (gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people, people who inject drugs and prisoners and other incarcerated people), human rights protection, stigma, discrimination and gender inequality reduction, and South-South cooperation.

Nicholas Rosellini, UN Resident Coordinator in China, spoke highly of the achievements and the strong partnership between the UN agencies and the Chinese partners. He said, “UNAIDS and the Joint Programme have served as an exemplary, pioneering model within the UN system with the coordination and implementation structures it has developed across 11 UN agencies and the multi-sectoral partnership across government departments, the private sector and community groups to deliver for people living with and affected by HIV.” 

He said the partnership between UN and China will be further strengthened in the new year as 2020 marks the UN’s 75th anniversary and as a new Cooperation Framework (2021 to 2025) with the Government of China will be signed.

Han Mengjie, Director of Center for STD and AIDS Prevention and Control, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention (NCAIDS) co-chaired the meeting together with the UN Resident Coordinator. In resonance with Rosellini he said, China will need UN’s continuous support for AIDS prevention and treatment because challenges still remain despite the progresses made. “We expect the UN Agencies in China to gather and introduce good practices from other countries to China according to our demand and in line with China’s current situation of AIDS control and prevent work and provide more support in experience sharing and technical expertise,” Han said. 

The participants also discussed priorities for 2020 and beyond to ensure the UN Sustainable Development Goal of ending AIDS by 2030 will be achieved. Proposed priorities includestrengthening of the evaluation of joint work, expansion of eMTCT programmes, promotion of PrEP especially for key populations, more efforts on innovation, priority on the youth, etc. 

Amakobe Sande, Country Director of UNAIDS China Office, said she was impressed by the strong commitment from the UN and Chinese colleagues and UNAIDS Secretariat will continue to play the key role in coordinating and facilitating the Joint Programme. “China has made great strides in controlling the HIV epidemic,” she said. “We can build on our collective progress so far to achieve even greater success, particularly in preventing new HIV infections and ending stigma and discrimination.”

About the UN Joint Programme on AIDS in China

The UN Joint Programme in China was initiated in 1996 and is staffed by members of a “Joint Team” composing focal points from each of the cosponsor agencies including the UNAIDS Secretariat, WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, UN Women, UNDP, ILO, UNHCR, UNESCO, and IOM. Coordinated by the UNAIDS Country Director and reporting to the UN Country Team, the Joint Team works in an efficient and coherent way through an agreed joint plan with regular meetings to oversee and monitor implementations.