Standing in Solidarity on World AIDS Day

December 1st marks World AIDS Day, a day on which we commemorate lives lost to HIV and AIDS while celebrating more than four decades of painstaking progress in preventing new infections and treating millions around the world. 

The global response to HIV/AIDS is an inspiration to those of us working in other areas of health disparity. The World Health Organization’s global cervical cancer elimination strategy was modeled on the UNAIDS global strategy to end HIV and AIDS. In October, TogetHER for Health participated on a panel at the International Papillomavirus Society meeting in Thailand to highlight key lessons from the HIV/AIDS pandemic response to accelerate global efforts in HPV and cervical cancer prevention.

It isn’t simply inspiration that leads cervical cancer advocates to mark World AIDS Day. Cervical cancer is listed as an AIDS-defining condition that can be life-threatening to people living with HIV. Women living with HIV are six times more likely to develop cervical cancer than their HIV-negative peers, making prevention and early screening imperative for girls and women in countries with high HIV burden. It’s also a stark reminder that no global health issue exists in a vacuum, and that people must be treated holistically to ensure their health and wellbeing. 

The synergy between HIV and cervical cancer has also spurred critical integrated investments that have saved thousands of lives. PEPFAR’s Go Further partnership has provided cervical cancer screening for over 10 million women living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa, with more two out of three of those women being screened for the first time. The Global Fund Against AIDS, TB, and Malaria allows country programs to submit funding requests for cervical cancer prevention in populations living with HIV. 

The close link between these diseases has also reminded us that when funding for one global health issue is slashed, related health issues also suffer. Last year we expressed our concern that the incoming United States government could backslide on what had been bipartisan support for global health – concern that has tragically played out in reality. It’s not surprising that this year’s World AIDS Day theme is, “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response.”

Two weeks ago, TogetHER and amfAR published a new analysis of the global funding landscape for cervical cancer elimination, showing that programmatic cuts to PEPFAR will drastically reduce cervical cancer screenings for women living with HIV. It also showed that research-oriented reductions in support by the United States government will undercut the pipeline for new and improved cervical cancer prevention strategies and tools – leaving many people living with HIV at enhanced risk for HPV-related cancers.

Support for HIV/AIDS and cervical cancer prevention should not be contingent on the politics of an administration. These investments save lives, preserve families, and strengthen communities, creating the conditions for a more prosperous, productive, and peaceful world. The WHO’s elimination agenda clearly outlines not only the health benefits of prevention and early treatment but the economic benefits as well: for every USD $1.00 spent on cervical cancer prevention, a total of $3.20 is returned to the local economy in wages and productivity. 

A world without HIV/AIDS and a world without cervical cancer deaths are not competing visions. In fact, it seems impossible to achieve one without the other. On World AIDS Day, advocates for cervical cancer elimination stand in solidarity with the fight against HIV/AIDS and call for the necessary investment to put the world on the path to ending these twin killers of women around the world.