“To be effective, pandemic responses need to go beyond one-way communication to include communities in decision-making at all levels.” speak Matthew Kavanagh, UNAIDS Executive Vice President for Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge.
“Community leadership is not just a nice thing to have. It is essential to end the pandemic.”
Step in the right direction
In a positive step forward, firstinternational definition of “community-led response”was presented – along with other results of the UNAIDS task force – to51st Program Coordination Committee Meetingof the United Nations Joint Program on HIV and AIDS.
The development has potential implications, as humanitarian and health experts believe the best way to deal with the outbreak is to work with communities. The new definition of community-led response will help build and monitor capacity at the local level.
“We will only be able to end AIDS and prevent other pandemics by ensuring that this community infrastructure is activated, strengthened, monitored, and resourced in a manner that is responsive,” Kavanagh argues. intentionally”.
pandemic sample
Delegates from the UNAIDS task force on community-led response – co-convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Development Program in Chiang Mai, Thailand (UNDP) – asserts that the approach taken by UN agencies, governments and other organizations will be key in tackling other pandemics and preparing for those to come.
“Stop COVID-19, mpox [monkeypox]and Ebolaand preparing for the next pandemic, all of which require the cooperation of governments and communities together,” continued the UNAIDS official.
Protect the forgotten elements
Using the new definitions and recommendations, UNAIDS Director Winnie Byanyima and German Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach published a paper on Fingertipscalls for the inclusion of a comprehensive “community pandemic infrastructure” in new planning, international agreements and financing.
The leaders affirmed that strong community infrastructure, and working with governments, is an essential but overlooked element of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Using evidence from AIDS, mpox, COVID-19and Ebola, the authors describe how community-led organizations provide trust, communication channels, and access to marginalized groups, complement the role of government, and improve equal.
Progressive Liberation
The UNAIDS Board meeting also organizes dialogues between Member States and non-State participants on the development of laws and policies to facilitate community response. co-leadership – including better systems for funding community-led organizations and integrating community-generated data into response management.
“The newly agreed framework for identifying and measuring community-led responses makes us better equipped to address the inequalities that stand in the way of ending AIDS,” said Mr. Kavanagh. .
Delegates witnessed first-hand how people-focused health services reach people at risk of HIV, achieving one of the most equitable HIV responses in the region. .
For example, in the midst of the war in Ukraine, a network of people living with HIV, called100 percent lifeused peer-to-peer links to communicate with displaced people, provide medicine, food, and emergency assistance.
A woman is tested for HIV at a hospital in Wau, South Sudan.
Feedback integration
To end the AIDS epidemic, community responses must be integrated at all levels of national strategy from planning, budgeting and implementation, to monitoring and evaluation.
“While what is commonly understood as infrastructure – such as laboratories and hospitals – is vital, also essential for an effective pandemic response is the community infrastructure that includes outreach, trusted voices that can speak to excluded communities, independent accountability mechanisms, and participation in decision-making,” said Kavanagh.
“International pandemic agreements and funding should include specific targets for community-led capacity.”
