Despite significant progress, people living with HIV continue to face persistent and evolving challenges that vary widely by gender and age.

To mark World AIDS Day 2025, HIV Outcomes, together with the European AIDS Treatment Group (EATG) and the UNITE Parliamentarians Network for Global Health, organised a high-level conference in the European Parliament, Brussels.

Hosted by MEP Victor Negrescu (S&D, Romania), this event underscored the urgent need for a life-course approach to HIV care that is gender-responsive and integrates chronic disease management — recognising HIV as a long-term condition intersecting with other health issues such as cardiovascular disease, mental health conditions, and cancer. It will also emphasise the EU’s fundamental role in driving sustainable HIV policies and funding frameworks that prioritise healthy living and ageing for all people living with HIV, regardless of their age and gender. 

Some of the key takeaways include:

• Communities are at the core of the HIV response. They provide care and support, and have for decades filled in where healthcare systems cannot or have not. They are a cost-effective investment and indispensable. Funding must therefore be sustained for community-led organisations and for research that addresses their needs. 

• Care must be people-centred to ensure their needs are met appropriately. HIV and its comorbidities cannot be taken in isolation from each other, requiring for care to be integrated. Addressing mental health and social needs as part of these systems is not a nice-to-have, it is fundamental to ensure that individuals live healthy, dignified lives.  

• The next Multiannual Financial Framework is a crucial opening to place health, and HIV in particular, firmly on the EU agenda. HIV should be mainstreamed across policy files within and beyond health, including in the equality portfolio. 

• Continuing the push towards the 2030 targets is non-negotiable. HIV is far from over — there is a path forward, but it is far from certain, and it is mired in inequality and stigma. The EU must reaffirm its commitment through an EU Action Plan on HIV/AIDS. 

…And more! Stay tuned for an event report in the beginning of 2026.

• Agenda

  9:45-10:00: Arrivals
  
  10:00: Keynote speech: MEP Victor Negrescu, Vice-President of the European Parliament
  
  10:10: Keynote speech: Christine Stegling, Deputy Executive Director, Policy, Advocacy and Knowledge, UNAIDS (tbc)
  
  10:20: Panel I: The needs and lived experiences of people living and ageing with HIV, discussing healthcare access, stigma, and living with HIV as people of different genders and life stages. With:

  -    Dr Nicoletta Policek, EATG Executive Director and HIV Outcomes Steering Group Member
  -    Emma, Chiva Young Associates Group Representative
  -    Mario Cascio, NPS Italia APS and HIV Outcomes Co-Chair
  -    Prof. Caroline Sabin, University College London and HIV Outcomes Co-Chair

  10:55: Panel II:  Gaps in current HIV care models and identifying concrete policy actions to support integrated, person-centred care across the life course, addressing comorbidities, mental health, ageing, and gender-specific needs. With:

  -    Bogdan Hadarag, Representative with lived experience of HIV from Romania
  -    MEP Krzysztof Śmiszek (S&D, Poland), MEP Informal Working Group on HIV
  -    Univ. Prof. Dr Adrian Streinu Cercel, President of the Senate Healthcare Committee, Romanian Parliament
  -    Dr Magdalena Ankiersztejn-Bartczak, EATG Member and HIV Outcomes Steering Group Member

  11:30: Closing remarks: MEP Rasmus Nordqvist (Greens/EFA, Denmark), Member of the Informal Working Group on HIV/AIDS
  
  11:40: Wrapping up with a brief networking coffee for participants to exchange insights and continue informal conversations