Expanding Access for All at Risk and in Need
Cyriaque Ako, Ivory Coast
Diagnosed HIV-positive in 1992, Cyriaque Ako is a well-known HIV and human rights activist. He helped create the first HIV and men who have sex with men association in the Ivory Coast, known as Ruban Rouge CI and Arc En Ciel Plus. He also helped form regional and international organisations, such as the Pan African Treatment Access Movement (PATAM) and the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition (ITPC). He is an advocate for the rights of people living with HIV and sexual minorities, as well as for the scale up of access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support of HIV. He previously served as the Executive Director of the Ivorian Network of People Living with HIV (RIP+) and has worked as a Program Coordinator for African Men for Sexual Health and Rights (AMSHeR). He is currently spearheading a project called Génération HSH sans sida (GHS) in five West and Central francophone African countries for the African Council of AIDS Service Organizations (AfriCASO). He is also the Acting Executive Secretary of the International Centre for Humanitarian Actions Networking and Grassroots Empowerment (ICHANGE CI). ICHANGE CI’s work focuses on transferring knowledge and skills to communities and beneficiaries with the aim to enhance their leadership, ownership and sustainability.
Addressing the Reservoir: Barriers to a Cure
Deborah Persaud, United States
A clinician and researcher specialising in the study and treatment of HIV-1 infection in children, Dr Deborah Persaud is a Professor of Paediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Time Magazine named Dr Persaud as one of the world’s 100 most influential people for 2013 after herself and colleagues announced the first functional cure of HIV in an infant. She has been active in the field of paediatric HIV latency for almost two decades and her research has focused on understanding the pathogenesis of HIV persistence in children and young people. She leads the HIV Cure Scientific Committee for the NIH-sponsored International Maternal Pediatric Adolescent AIDS Clinical Trials Network (IMPAACT), which focuses on virus eradication towards a remission and cure for paediatric populations.
HIV in Global Health and the SDGs
Alessandra Nilo, Brazil
Alessandra Nilo is a journalist, film director and screenwriter with an academic specialisation in communications and health. She is Co-founder and Executive Director of Gestos, an HIV and AIDS organisation located in Recife, Brazil. Nilo has worked to publicise the United Nations General Assembly Declaration of Commitment on HIV and AIDS as a tool to monitor and evaluate the implementation of national HIV policies. She developed the UNGASS-AIDS Forum platform in Brazil and has represented civil society in the Brazilian national delegations to the UN High Level Meetings on HIV. She is also the Regional Secretariat of the Latin American and Caribbean Council of AIDS Organizations (LACCASO) and represented Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) at the Program Coordinating Board of UNAIDS from 2012-2014. She is currently co-leading the Women Won’t Wait campaign in Brazil, while serving on the Board of Directors of ABONG (Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organisations) and Action Aid Brazil. She is also a member of the High Level Task Force for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).
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