WHO HIV/AIDS Programme staff collaborate

Making universal access a reality

WHO HIV/AIDS Programme staff collaborate with other UN Agencies, Ministries of Health, development agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), health services providers, health-care institutions, people living with HIV and other partners. The aim is to strengthen all aspects of the health sector in order to deliver much-needed HIV services. Working with six regional offices and 193 countries, WHO provides technical support and develops evidence-based norms and standards that will help transform the goal of universal access into a reality.

Five strategic directions

Recent estimates indicate that the health sector alone represents at least 55% of the resources required for the global response to HIV/AIDS. In order to better target much-needed interventions, the WHO HIV/AIDS Programme focuses on five strategic directions:

• Enable people to know their HIV status;
• Maximize the health sector’s contribution to HIV prevention;
• Accelerate the scale-up of HIV treatment and care;
• Strengthen and expand health systems;
• Invest in strategic information to better inform the HIV response.

A public health approach

The WHO HIV/AIDS Programme promotes a public health approach to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. This means working with countries to develop and implement simplified guidelines, to decentralize services, and to delegate tasks to less specialized health workers. In other words, the greatest good for the greatest number of people.

The WHO HIV/AIDS Department refers specifically to the unit dedicated to working with HIV/AIDS as opposed to the 'Programme' which refers to all WHO HIV-related work both at headquarters, regions and countries.

The WHO HIV/AIDS Department

The HIV/AIDS Department is closely linked to other related departments and programmes. These include sexual and reproductive health; tuberculosis; blood safety; child and adolescent health; essential drugs and medicines policy; disease surveillance; mental health; vaccine and microbicide development; gender and women's health; health education and substance dependence.

The HIV/AIDS Department is comprised of the following teams: Prevention in the health sector, Antiretroviral treatment and HIV care, Systems strengthening and HIV, Strategic information and research and the Office of the Director that responds on policy coordination, advocacy communications, resource mobilization, partnerships with civil society and programme management. The department is located in the Cluster for HIV/AIDS, TB, Malaria and Neglected tropical Diseases. (HTM).