A Timeline of UN Action on HIV/AIDS
A young man stands near an AIDS help-line poster in Tanzania/Free condoms from a dispenser at a bar in South Africa/HIV blood test being administered at a hospital in Sierra Leone/ A patient in South Sudan holding her anti-retroviral drugs.(UNAIDS;UN Photo/Louise Gubb;UNDP/Brian Sokol)
In June 1981, scientists in the United States reported the first clinical evidence of a disease that would later become known as acquired immunodeficiency syndrome or AIDS. The United Nations is committed to a wide range of activities and initiatives around the world in the battle against HIV and AIDS.
Selected Highlights of UN Action on HIV/AIDS
- 1985 The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization (WHO) host the first International AIDS Conference in Atlanta, Georgia
- 1987 February WHO launches the Global Program on AIDS
- 1987 October AIDS becomes the first disease ever debated on the floor of General Assembly. A/42/PV.44, A/42/PV.45, A/42/PV.48, A/RES/42/8
- 1988 WHO declares declares 1 December to be World AIDS Day. The General Assembly officially recognizes the day with A/RES/43/15
- 1994 The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) passes resolution 1994/24 endorsing the establishment of a Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which will be know as UNAIDS
- 1996 UNAIDS becomes fully operational on 1 January, coordinating the main UN agencies involved with HIV/AIDS and combining the knowledge of its cosponsoring bodies
- 1998 UNAIDS and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) publish the International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights as a tool for States in designing, coordinating and implementing effective national HIV/AIDS policies and strategies
- 2000 July The UN Security Council meets to discuss the impact of AIDS on peace and security in Africa, the first time that the council discusses a health issue as a threat to peace and security. Security Council Resolution 1308 (2000) on HIV/AIDS and International Peacekeeping Operations is adopted on 17 July
- 2000 September World leaders meet for the UN Millennium Summit and adopt the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The Declaration sets out a series of time-bound targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Goal 6 focuses on stopping and reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS
- 2001 The General Assembly holds a Special Session on the Problem of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) in all its aspects. The Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS “Global Crisis – Global Action”, A/RES/S-26/2 is adopted on 27 June
- 2006 The General Assembly High-Level Meeting on HIV/AIDS adopts a 53-point Political Declaration, A/RES/60/62 on the way towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services
- 2011 June World leaders gather in New York for the General Assembly High Level Meeting on AIDS. A/RES/65/277, Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS: Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV/AIDS is adopted
- 2011 June The Security Council passes S/RES/1983 (2011) on the impacts of HIV/AIDS epidemic in conflict and post-conflict situations
- 2015 Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by the General Assembly in September, outlines new sustainable development goals including SD3 . SD3 targets ending the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases by 2030.
UN Agencies and Programmes
