Global Experts Call for Better Match between HIV Prevention Efforts and Groups at Greatest Risk

SUMMARY: Worldwide HIV/AIDS prevention efforts could be more successful if they did a better job of targeting resources toward groups at highest risk of infection, including men who have sex with men and injection drug users, according to a new report from the Global HIV Prevention Working Group released at the XVIII International AIDS Conference last week in Vienna.

Global AIDS Experts Warn of Mismatch between
HIV Prevention Efforts and National Needs

New report card on global HIV prevention urges renewed focus on people at greatest risk

Report card also notes encouraging steps to strengthen prevention being taken by UNAIDS, Global Fund, PEPFAR, and others

Vienna -- July 20, 2010 -- An international panel of AIDS experts warned today that global HIV prevention programs are not having the full impact they could, because they often overlook people at greatest risk of infection, and are not always rigorously planned and managed. Overall, just 10% of countries have HIV prevention programs that are well-matched with national needs.

These are among the findings of a new report card on global HIV prevention released today by the Global HIV Prevention Working Group at the 18th International AIDS Conference. The report card -- which assesses the quality of global HIV prevention efforts against recommendations the Working Group has made over the past decade -- also finds that many countries and donors have begun taking steps to strengthen HIV prevention programs, and urges that these efforts be accelerated.

"The report card's findings should be cause for renewed determination," said Dr. Helene Gayle, co-chair of the Working Group and president and CEO of CARE USA. "We know what works in HIV prevention, and when we bring effective prevention programs to scale, we save lives.

"A number of countries and donors are already taking important steps to better match HIV prevention programs with national needs, and there are clear opportunities for prevention to have far greater impact," Dr. Gayle said. "A top priority is to refocus HIV prevention on people at greatest risk."

The report card calls for HIV prevention programs to apply the same kind of planning and management that has made efforts to expand HIV treatment so successful.

"HIV treatment programs have been tremendously effective because they are driven by clear milestones, and progress is carefully monitored," said Dr. Judith Auerbach, Working Group member and vice president for science and public policy at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. "When prevention programs are evidence-based and rigorously planned, managed, and evaluated, they are highly successful as well."