On Jan.27, Winnie Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, spoke during the opening plenary at this year's virtual HIV Research for Prevention (HIV R4P) Conference. Byanyima who spoke under the theme, "Where will we be in 2025?" detailed plans for a new UNAIDS strategy that is aimed at closing inequalities that are behind the unrelenting HIV infections especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Independent's Ronald Musoke attended the conference and captured Byanyima's thoughts.

This year, 2021, is of particular significance (to the global community) as it marks the 40th anniversary since the first reported cases of HIV. Forty years on, the fight is far from over.

Last year, we saw 1.7 million new infections and 690,000 AIDS-related deaths. Still, it was the lowest number of HIV infections recorded since 1989 and the reduction in mortality is indeed historic, but let us not be so complacent that 1.7 million new infections per year starts to feel like progress and when every one of those AIDS-related deaths was preventable.

The truth is that we are failing. We have missed our target for 2020 by a wide margin and we need a wake-up call to get back on track to end AIDS by 2030. Where we will be on HIV prevention in four year's time (2025) depends on the choices we make now. Read more via All Africa/The Independent