UNAIDS Regional Director to Visit India next week

NEW DELHI, 20 September, 2024 — UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions, Mr Eamonn Murphy, will visit India from 23-27 September 2024. He will participate in a series of high-level engagements aimed at discussing the long-term sustainability of India’s HIV response to 2030 and beyond, as well as the lessons that India could share going forward. 

Over four days Mr Murphy will meet with Government, civil society and other development partners to discuss the country’s progress towards ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and the planning that is urgently needed for sustaining HIV response gains beyond.

India has long played a key role in shaping the global response to HIV and has made substantial progress. According to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data, since 2010 new infections have decreased by 44% – which is well above the global and regional averages. This is in part due to the free treatment scale up and the Test and Treat programme under the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Over the last 13 years India achieved a 79% decline in AIDS-related deaths. The rate of HIV transmission from mothers to their babies has fallen to around 12%. Currently 8 in 10 people living with HIV in the country know their status (80%).

The Mission 

During the four-day visit Mr Murphy is scheduled to meet with senior representatives of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and NITI Aayog.  

A major highlight of Mr. Murphy’s visit will be his participation in the First Asia-Pacific and Third National Conference on LGBTQI+ Health. He will speak at the inaugural ceremony, reinforcing UNAIDS' commitment to inclusive health initiatives that address the needs of LGBTQI+ communities.

He will also meet with civil society and other development partners to discuss opportunities and challenges as it relates to accelerating prevention, treatment and care services for people living with HIV and other key populations throughout India.                                                                                                                                                                     

Bio 

Eamonn Murphy, UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific region and Eastern Europe and Central Asia region

Eamonn Murphy leads UNAIDS’ efforts in promoting an expanded and integrated United Nations system response to HIV for the Asia Pacific; and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions. 

Mr. Murphy was Deputy Executive Director, Programme a.i. supporting the transition and realignment of the UNAIDS Secretariat to support the implementation of the new Global AIDS Strategy in 2022. Formerly, he was the UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia Pacific and previously the UNAIDS Country Director in Myanmar and Viet Nam. He also served as UNAIDS’ Director of Governance, United Nations System and Donor Relations. 

Before joining the UN in 2002, Mr. Murphy held several senior positions with the Australian Government, including Director for Health Sectors with AusAID in the Foreign Ministry, Head of the Communicable Diseases and Environmental Health Branch, and Director of the National AIDS Programme for the Commonwealth Health Department.  

Contact 

UNAIDS India | Khushbu | tel. +91 9811309735  | khushbu@unaids.org 

UNAIDS Regional Support Team | Cedriann Martin | tel. 66 2680 4120 | martinc@unaids.org 

UNAIDS   

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximise results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org.