As we prepare to join colleagues, partners and communities at ICASA 2025 in Accra, we in the Humana People to People Movement want to reflect on the urgent work ahead - and emphasize why the people-to-people approach is not only the right one, but the most effective way to confront HIV in Africa.
Despite enormous progress over the past decades, HIV remains a serious public-health, social and developmental challenge for the continent.
The question we must ask now is not simply how far we have come, but how we ensure the next phase of the response is rooted where real change happens - within communities themselves.
We know that ending AIDS by 2030 demands not just biomedical breakthroughs, but mobilized communities, sustained behavior change, grassroots ownership, and strong health-systems support.
As African countries look ahead to a future when their public health systems are self-sustaining and provide care to all citizens, this conversation has never been more timely.
For twenty-five years, our Total Control of the Epidemic (TCE) programme has been built on a principle that has proven true in every village, town, mining settlement and informal community where we work: people are not passive recipients of health interventions; they are the drivers of them. TCE starts with the belief that “only the people can liberate themselves from AIDS,” and it has shown again and again that when individuals are empowered, informed and supported, the entire community moves forward.
Through our longstanding partnerships with national governments, we have been able to extend the reach of public health systems to the people most likely to be left behind - knocking on doors, sitting with families, and working alongside community leaders. We have employed and trained local staff as field officers, because they understand the culture, the language and the complex realities people live in.
It means finding people who might otherwise never be tested, offering support in the privacy of their homes, linking them to treatment immediately, and staying connected long after the first referral. This is the quiet work behind big progress: the neighbour who accompanies a friend to the clinic, the youth leader who breaks stigma in her peer group, the support trio that helps someone stay on their treatment path.
Across countries where TCE is active, we have seen this approach transform outcomes. Communities once disconnected from health services become active partners in their own wellbeing.
By working among the people most affected, our teams contribute to national public health agendas that seek to leave no one behind, and ensure that scientific and medical advances reach the “last mile” where they are needed most.
As we look toward ICASA 2025, with its theme:- “Africa in Action: Catalysing Integrated Sustainable Responses to end AIDS, TB & Malaria”. there are powerful reasons to place community-led approaches at the centre of the conversation. Across the continent, infections among young people remain stubbornly high. Health systems are stretched by multiple crises. Funding is uncertain, and global attention is often divided. Yet the greatest resource Africa has - its people - remains strong. Community leadership, when properly recognised and supported, is one of the most sustainable tools we have for ending AIDS. We and our government partners know that it is not an accessory to national strategies; it is the heart of their success.
We believe this year’s ICASA provides an opportunity to shift the narrative. It is time to move from discussing targets in meeting rooms to highlighting the lived experiences of those who make those targets achievable. The mother who regains her health and livelihood after returning to treatment. The group of young women who challenge long-held norms and protect themselves through knowledge and solidarity. The community activist who ensures that neighbours understand their rights and access services without fear or judgement. These are the true stories of progress - and they matter now more than ever.
The fact remains that the epidemic is fought not only in clinics and laboratories, but also in conversations between neighbours, in support groups under trees, in the courage of individuals who choose to act for themselves and for others.
As delegates prepare to join the gathering in Accra, our message is simple: trust in communities. Equip them, support them, and stand with them. For it is in the hands of ordinary people - acting together, sharing knowledge, breaking stigma, and building healthier futures - that the power to end the epidemic truly lies.
