Milan joins the UNAIDS Fast-Track Cities Initiative

"By 1 December 2017, the World AIDS Day, Milan will join the UNAIDS Fast-Track Cities Initiative. London and Tbilisi are also planning to join it", said Antonella d'Arminio Monforte, MD, Associate Professor of Infectious Diseases, University of Milan, during the opening ceremony of the 16th European AIDS Conference hosted by the city of Milan.

The Fast-Track Cities initiative was launched on World AIDS Day 2014 in Paris. More than 70 high HIV burden cities around the world have since signed the Paris Declaration on Fast-Track Cities. In 2017 Odessa became the second city, after Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, in the eastern Europe and central Asia region to join the Fast-Track cities initiative.

As one of the first steps to achieve the 90-90-90 target the conference participants reported cutting the PrEP price by 50 percent. "Since October 2017 the generic Truvada made by local drug company is available in italian pharmacies for 115 euros", said Giulio Maria Corbelli from the European AIDS Treatment Group.

The International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), and the City of Paris are supporting Fast-Track cities to achieve the following targets by 2020:

• 90% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) knowing their HIV status
• 90% of PLHIV who know their HIV-positive status on antiretroviral therapy (ART)
• 90% of PLHIV on ART achieving viral suppression
• Zero stigma and discrimination

Attaining the 90-90-90 and zero stigma and discrimination targets is grounded in people-centered HIV care continuum optimization. As the initiative’s primary technical partner, IAPAC supports Fast-Track Cities with HIV care continuum optimization through: 1) technical assistance to local health departments; 2) consensus-building and coordination among key local stakeholders; and 3) capacity-building support for clinical and service providers, community-based organizations, and affected communities.