FAQs

The vision of the new HIV response sustainability approach is to “galvanize efforts and drive sustainable HIV response transformations to reach and maintain epidemic control beyond 2030, by upholding the right to health for all”. Therefore, HIV response sustainability implies that a country can have and use, in an enabling environment:

• people-centred, services-orientation systems for health and equity;
• empowered and capable institutions and community-led organizations; and
• adequate and equitably distributed resources to reach the end AIDS and sustain that accomplishment beyond 2030.

In a nutshell sustainability refers to a country’s pathway to achieving the 2030 goals to end AIDS as a public health threat and ensuring a sustained response to HIV, beyond 2030, by adapting and advancing political, programmatic and financial components of the HIV response. The aim is for countries to plan for and have the capacity to maintain the gains and target levels across the key components of the HIV response, even beyond 2030. Understandably, the post 2030 resource environment may not remain the same and therefore it is important that countries are able to meet current and future needs without compromising the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat for future generations. This would require changes in the way resources are mobilized, used and managed.

As countries work to reach the goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030, planning is urgently needed for sustaining the gains from the HIV response beyond 2030. The strategies and delivery modalities required for scaling up prevention and treatment services and to ensure a stable enabling environment to reach the 2030 target will differ from those that will be needed for long-term sustainability. The new HIV Response Sustainability Approach and framework provides the backdrop for the design of country specific HIV Response Sustainability Roadmaps across five domains encompassing programmatic, political, structural and financial dimensions of sustainability.

The vision of the new HIV response sustainability approach is to “galvanize efforts and to drive sustainable HIV response transformations to reach and maintain epidemic control beyond 2030, by upholding the right to health for all”. Therefore, HIV response sustainability implies that a country has and uses, in an enabling environment:

This new approach to HIV sustainability that puts countries at the centre, leading the response to HIV and guiding the transformations required to reach the 2030 SDG targets and to sustain impact beyond 2030. It is a more holistic approach to thinking of sustaining the HIV response, focusing beyond financial sustainability to the political, programmatic, systems, and services transformations needed to maintain impact of the HIV response by and beyond 2030.

 

This a very important moment in the HIV response, a moment to look to the future confidently, to embrace the success that the response has seen to this point, and to more intentionally discuss the vision for the HIV response beyond 2030. It is time to be laser focused on the transformations needed to achieve impact, drawing on the learnings from the countries that are getting closer to achieving the 95-95-95 targets, and support others that are facing many challenges. We need to engage early given that the transformations needed are against a backdrop of complex domestic and global environments and priorities. This would require taking a long-term view to sustaining impact. The purpose of the new HIV response sustainability approach and the Roadmap is to support countries in planning for the future of the HIV response, though not in isolation from other priorities. Many of the pertinent analyses, actions, and transformations to be undertaken require clear, well-crafted steps towards stronger health systems, better-integrated services for HIV, stronger country ownership and more streamlined donor contributions to strengthen country systems. Those changes must also contribute towards universal health coverage, gender equality, human rights, stronger and better financed health systems.

An HIV Response Sustainability Roadmap outlines a country-led path for achieving the global AIDS targets for 2025, ending AIDS by 2030 and sustaining the impact of those achievements beyond 2030. It lays out the steps that can transform both health- and HIV-related political leadership, policies, finances, systems and services. The Roadmap should be aligned to existing sectoral strategies and plans, including for HIV, health and related social and multisectoral development strategies. The transformations proposed in the Roadmap should also inform future revisions in national strategies, including HIV and other health-sector and multisectoral strategies. The HIV Sustainability Roadmap comprises two sections, Part A and Part B developed in a phased approach.

Sustainability roadmaps are not going to replace the NSP. They will provide substantial content regarding transformations for the response to help the next iteration of NSPs .The sustainability road maps are distinct from, yet complementary to NSPs And the revisions of the existing sustainability roadmaps are also intended to inform the plans and actions of all relevant actors (including partners) as they move into their next planning exercises, as they move to the transformations that each of the different actors will need to undergo. As we all know, change and transformations are difficult, and are difficult for all actors to advance. But this is also the substance of this exercise – interrogating those things that will allow us to really increase our impact and be prepared and ready for the post-2030 world looking long-term.