“Break the stigma. Break the silence. Together we can end AIDS.” Germanys motto at the 25th International AIDS Conference 

While around 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV and 1.3 million new persons get infected each year, medical advances have progressed significantly. Every two years, the International AIDS Conference, organised by the International AIDS Society, provides the platform for persons living with, affected by and working on HIV/AIDS to discuss new developments and the future of the HIV/AIDS response. More than 30 years after it first took place in Berlin, Germany had once again the honor of hosting the single most important AIDS gathering of the world.

Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz officially opened the conference, which took place in Munich from 22 to 26 July. More than 11,000 participants met to share knowledge, best practices and lessons learnt from the HIV response and to discuss the most pressing questions regarding future efforts. Their message was clear: The HIV response is united behind an evidence-based approach that puts people first.  

This year’s edition of the conference focused on four main topics:  

• Innovation through scientific discovery 

• Implementation science 

• Key and vulnerable populations 

• Eastern Europe 

In Eastern Europe as well as in Central Asia, the HIV response is critically off-track: According to a United Nations Report from July 2024, the region has seen a 20% increase in new HIV infections and a 34% increase in AIDS-related deaths since 2010.  

Mapping the path to ending HIV/AIDS by 2030 

At the conference, latest data and scientific advances in prevention and treatment were presented and discussed, including a new report by UNAIDS and a promising twice-yearly injection to prevent HIV. Participants also celebrated political successes led by advocacy groups, communities and strong multilateral leadership. Efforts in this area are guided by SDG 3.3: “Ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030”.  

But despite advances, the human rights situation in many countries remains one of the main obstacles to achieving this goal. Stigmata around male-to-male sexual contact and the discrimination of key populations like transgender people are part of this obstacle. Participants noticed the deteriorating situation with concern. This is particularly alarming in countries that have passed punitive laws in the last years, while all scientific evidence shows that such laws stop progress in the answer to HIV.  

Other discussions revolved around the aging population of people living with HIV and the implications for health systems, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Even if we could drastically reduce the number of new HIV infections, millions of people living with HIV would still require specialised long-term health care. Another worry is that women and girls, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, are still more affected by HIV than men, although the overall numbers of new HIV infections have significantly decreased in this region.  

Women leading the HIV response 

A panel organized by the ‘Friends of the Global Fund’, a not-for-profit organization aiming to mobilise support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), explored the key role of women in the HIV response. The panel was opened by former Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul. Mr Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), was one of the panelists.  

In the presence of Peter Sands, Executive Director of the GFATM, State Secretary Flasbarth announced that Germany will remain a strong supporter to the Global Fund. The audience applauded his statement that ‘without women, we have not a bit of a chance to end HIV’. The panel agreed that women have to be included in all aspects of the HIV response for it to be successful. In this context, State Secretary Flasbarth pointed out the German feminist development policy that centers around the “three Rs” of empowering women through access to Rights, Resources, and Representation. Peter Sands stressed that the success of the GFATM would not have been achievable without strong partners such as Germany. 

Breaking the silence 

Germany’s contribution to the HIV/AIDS response, both nationally and internationally, was showcased at the German Pavilion. Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and the BMZ, the pavilion hosted the Robert Koch Institute – RKI (Germany’s public health institute), the Federal Centre for Health Education – BzGA; the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit – GIZ (Germany’s service provider in the field of international cooperation) as well as the civil society organisations Deutsche Aidshilfe (German AIDS Service Organisations), Deutsche AIDS-Stiftung (German AIDS Foundation) and Aktionsbündnis gegen AIDS (Action against AIDS Germany), Deutsche Aids Gesellschaft – DAIG (German AIDS Society), and Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW). United under the slogan “Break The Silence. Break The Stigma. Together We Can End AIDS”, the group of hosts offered a variety of opportunities to learn about their actions against the HIV pandemic – be it in video presentations, information boards and project presentations, in short talks and panel discussions or in direct dialogue. 

The panel discussions included a session by GIZ’s BACKUP Health programme, which revolved around ‘Access to HIV services in the context of fragility and war’ with experts from countries like Ukraine. The session was opened by BMZ Deputy Director General for Global Health, Resilience, Equality of Opportunity Dr. Tania Rödiger-Vorwerk. The KfW Development Bank offered three events at the German Pavilion. In one of them, they presented their work on HIV prevention with partners from South Africa. KfW also hosted the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative that presented the development of a TB vaccine, and organised a session on multi-prevention tools and product development partnerships. Action against AIDS presented the UNAIDS Update on global HIV data at the pavilion.   

Learning about interactive methodologies  

One of the participating organisations, the Federal Centre for Health Education, (BZgA) set standards in HIV education in the early days of HIV education. In 1994 they invented the Join-In Circuit (J-IC). This is a learner-centered, interactive methodology that aims to increase knowledge on topics and risk factors related to HIV, AIDS, sexual and reproductive health and healthy relationships. Another objective of the J-IC is to build a foundation for positive changes in attitude and behaviour. The organisation operated one station of the J-IC at the pavilion that turned out to be one of the main attractions of the booth. Visitors learned about correct condom sizes and tried them out on the ‘penis cactus’.  

The key message from the 2024 AIDS conference in Munich is the importance of international collaboration between actors from science, the private sector, politics, and civil society. This was also reflected at the German pavilion, which successfully brought together diverse actors at a national level, giving a glimpse into a hopeful and HIV-free future.  

Maja Opua and Giulia Reichmann
August 2024