SUSTAINABLE HIV PREVENTION INITIATIVE

The Sustainable HIV Prevention Initiative convened leaders from the National AIDS Coordinating Authorities and HIV directorates of 11 African countries, along with local and global technical and civil society experts in Lilongwe, Malawi, in February 2025.

 

The countries represented were:

 

• Eswatini

• Ghana

• Kenya​

• Malawi

• ​Nigeria

• Rwanda

• South Africa

• Tanzania

• ​​Uganda

• Zambia

• Zimbabwe​​​

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The meeting aimed to:

 

• Deepen the dialogue by moving beyond the WHAT to the HOW of sustainable HIV response, ensuring efforts are embedded within strong, resilient health systems.

• Highlight critical health systems innovations from countries in the region that demonstrate practical, scalable solutions.

• Discuss actions being taken by governments, civil society, and other stakeholders in response to disruptions in U.S. foreign assistance.

• Ensure these insights inform national and donor-promoted sustainability dialogues, including through the forthcoming Lancet HIV and Lancet Global Health paper series.

 

The discussions deepened the group’s collective understanding of the seismic shifts in the external funding environment for HIV programs and accelerated conversations on the core health system functions and capabilities essential to sustaining and strengthening HIV programming. Participants highlighted emerging examples of nationally led policies and programs, with a focus on integrated HIV prevention approaches, the critical importance of long-acting HIV prevention technologies, and alignment with the needs of communities and affected populations. A report summarizing the convening is available here.

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Viewpoint: Following the convening, the Sustainable Prevention Initiative leaders authored a Viewpoint article titled “The Global HIV Response at a Crossroads: Protecting Gains and Advancing Sustainability Amid Funding Disruptions,” published in the Lancet HIV. The Viewpoint provides specific country-level insights into how funding disruptions threaten to reverse gains in the HIV response. It includes a series of recommendations for national leaders and calls on funders to support service delivery integration, fund high-priority underfunded areas, invest in health system resilience, and ensure access to long-acting pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). The link to access the Viewpoint is available here.

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Policy Brief: 60 participants at the convening also endorsed a policy brief titled “Strengthening National Leadership for Sustainable HIV Programs: A Policy Brief for Government Leaders” The policy brief, developed for national political leaders, outlines key strategic priorities for governments to sustain their HIV response: increasing domestic financing, integrating HIV prevention and treatment within primary healthcare services, prioritizing prevention—including highly effective long-acting formulations—within national HIV agendas, and ensuring inclusive access to HIV services for vulnerable populations. The link to access the Policy Brief is available here.

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Press Release: A press release titled “Leaders from 11 African Countries Develop Policy Recommendations to Sustain and Strengthen Global HIV Response” was jointly issued by the Malawi National AIDS Commission, Ministry of Health, and Georgetown University Center for Innovation in Global Health on May 9, 2025, detailing these developments. The link to access the Press Release is available here.