GNP+, UNAIDS and US government agencies – the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Defense and US Agency for International Development – met in Geneva on the 21-22 October 2009 for a consultation on Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention.

The three parties all work on HIV prevention with people living with HIV. At the meeting they explored synergies, differences and complementarities in their programmatic work on Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention.

In April 2009, GNP+ and UNAIDS co-organised an international technical consultation, which reshaped thinking on the role of people living with HIV in prevention. The result was the concept of ‘Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention, which links issues of HIV treatment, prevention, support and care within a human rights framework. The US government agencies represented at the meeting are implementing PEPFAR programmes, which includes providing treatment and care, delivering HIV prevention programmes and training new healthcare workers. Under new partnership frameworks, PEPFAR programmes are focusing on the sustainability of programmes at national level by promoting government leadership in the HIV response and ensuring strong civil society and community participation.

GNP+, UNAIDS and the US government agencies determined potential areas for collaboration, including the development of a framework on Positive Health, Dignity and Prevention, and fostering partnerships between PEPFAR programmes and networks of people living with HIV at national level. In countries where certain groups of people living with HIV are excluded or criminalised, the three organisations discussed the different roles they can play in supporting enabling environments for HIV prevention.

This unique meeting highlighted the importance of developing country level partnerships between government agencies and civil society in linking HIV treatment and prevention, within both clinical and community settings, and within a framework of human rights.