Network calls on Heads of State to resume HIV/AIDS-IST Congress in CPLP countries

The Lusophone Network's appeal aims to reach Heads of State of the countries that make up the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) to ensure the re-establishment of the CPLP HIV/AIDS-IST Congress, last organized in 2010 in Portugal.

The launch of International Testing Week 2022 in Maputo was the starting point for identifying the need to resume the organization of the HIV/AIDS-IST Congress, which was first held in Angola (2007), followed by Brazil (2008) and finally Portugal (2010), in order to strengthen Lusophone Cooperation in Health.

As well as re-establishing the Congress, the Maputo Call to Action aimed to ensure that the Sustainable Development Goals are a priority and a reality in the Lusophone world. Another objective was to challenge Portugal to assume its responsibility in north-south health cooperation and Brazil in south-south cooperation. The document also calls for the implementation of the Lisbon Charter, promoted by Jorge Sampaio and adopted at the III CPLP HIV/AIDS-IST Congress.

After the Maputo Call to Action was discussed and accepted at the IV Extraordinary Meeting of CPLP Health Ministers, the organizations of the Lusophone Network are launching the Bissau Call to Action to reinforce the request from civil society, after a year without any new developments.

"We note with great concern that, to date, the process of organizing the congress has not begun, nor has the organizing country been defined, nor the date" reads the document Appeal for Bissau Action.

The new appeal began during International Testing Week 2023 in Guinea-Bissau, with the Conference "The challenge of early diagnosis and access to health in Guinea-Bissau". With a view to speeding up the process, the organizations are calling on Portugal and Brazil to take over the organization of the Congress in 2024 and 2026 respectively.

The commitment should ensure that these conferences are held every two years, with the guarantee that Portugal and Brazil will lead cooperation with the other CPLP countries. The São Paulo State NGO/AIDS Forum (FOAESP) and the GAT Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos are hoping to meet with the respective Ministries of Health to discuss the proposal.

The Lusophone countries' claim is that it is only possible to achieve the 3rd Sustainable Development Goal, which includes ending the epidemics of HIV, tuberculosis, viral hepatitis and STIs, with Lusophone cooperation in the area of health and policies based on evidence, recommendations and monitoring indicators from the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. The challenge of geographical dispersion for cohesive cooperation must be overcome with the commitment of the CPLP Heads of State and Executive.

The Maputo Call to Action and the Bissau Call to Action were addressed to the Heads of State of Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor, as well as to the CPLP executive and their respective ministers of health and foreign affairs.

The community-based non-governmental organizations that are members of the Coalition Plus Lusophone Network subscribe to the appeal: ADDP-GB - Ajuda de Desenvolvimento de Povo para Povo (Guinea-Bissau), RENAP+GB - Rede Nacional de Associações das Pessoas Viventes com VIH/SIDA (Guinea-Bissau), Enda Santé (Guinea-Bissau), Associação Apoio à Vida (São Tomé and Príncipe), ASPF - Associação Santomense para a Promoção da Família (São Tomé and Príncipe), FOAESP - Fórum das ONG/Aids do Estado de São Paulo (Brazil), GAT - Grupo de Ativistas em Tratamentos (Portugal), HATUTAN (East Timor), MWENHO - Rede de Mulheres vivendo com VIH e SIDA (Angola), MATRAM - Movimento para o Acesso aos Tratamentos em Moçambique (Mozambique) and VERDEFAM - Associação Cabo-verdiana Para Proteção da Família (Cape Verde).