It is time to end the siloed and vertical response to AIDS, and to “make common cause with the global health field”, says a new report by the International AIDS Society (IAS)–Lancet Commission.

"This approach would support the idea that investing in the AIDS response is a means to building stronger health systems, getting to universal health coverage, and deepening access to services beyond HIV/AIDS,” says the report, Advancing global health and strengthening the HIV response in the era of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Integrated global health

The report was written by an international group of experts in HIV and other global health domains to examine the future of the AIDS response in the context of a more integrated global health and sustainable development agenda.

“If health systems are to be effective, care and prevention must be tailored, not to a single condition or disease, but to each individual as a whole. Integration is an investment in people, not in single instances of disease.” - NCDA CEO Katie Dain.

The NCD Alliance welcomes its call for an integrated approach. “If health systems are to be effective, care and prevention must be tailored, not to a single condition or disease, but to each individual as a whole. Integration is an investment in people, not in single instances of disease,” said NCDA CEO Katie Dain.

“We particularly welcome the recommendations of the Commission on combined screening for multiple conditions and better coordination of financing for global health,” she added.

Two other key findings from the report are:

• The HIV/AIDS community made a serious error by pursuing “the end of AIDS” message. As the Commission shows so clearly, the world is not on track to end AIDS;
• As the global community revitalises efforts on HIV, more of the same is not enough. In terms of HIV/AIDS funding, current trends point to a worrying decline.

Download the report