Elton John issues rallying cry as leaders meet for AIDSfree forum: ‘We’ve come so far ... Now let’s leave no one behind’

Global leaders in the fight for an Aids-free future joined government ministers in London on Wednesday as a conference organised by The Independent and The Evening Standard aiming to end the epidemic got under way.

Secretaries of state Matt Hancock and Penny Mordaunt welcomed more than 100 delegates at the AIDSfree Cities Global Forum marking the climax of our two-month campaign in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to battle the disease which has claimed 36 million lives.

Sir Elton today hailed the event by saying: “I’m thrilled that city leaders and health ministers from around the world have come together to drive forward the global fight to end Aids.”

“We’ve come so far in this journey and we have the medical tools we need to help every single person at risk of or living with HIV to live a normal life. What we need now is collaboration across cities to have long-lasting impact and to make sure no one, wherever they may be, is left behind. Today’s forum is an example of exactly that, so thank you to everyone involved.”

Evgeny Lebedev, owner of the two titles, said: “37 million people are living with HIV today and almost one million died of an Aids-related illness in 2017. These deaths were preventable. HIV is a treatable disease.

“That is why I am pleased that world leaders in the field gathered in London for this event. I hope that it will build on the work of the campaign to help achieve an Aids-free future.”

The forum, at The Conduit in Mayfair, follows our appeal, which launched on 3 December, to drive down HIV rates in the key cities of London, Atlanta, Nairobi, Maputo, Delhi and Kiev.

Through UK Aid Match, the government pledged to double every pound the public donated to our AIDSfree appeal. In addition, the Department of Health has committed £1.5m to funding projects supported by the appeal.

Speaking at the forum, health secretary Mr Hancock detailed how the government would work to ensure that the UK had no new cases of HIV by 2030.

“We’re all part of the global solution to this global challenge so I’m extremely grateful to the Elton John AIDS Foundation and The Independent and Evening Standard for bringing us together,” he said.

“I feel proud that Britain has made such incredible progress on defeating Aids. But we must go further and lead by example. So today we’re setting a new goal: eradicating HIV transmission in England by 2030.”

International development secretary Ms Mordaunt reiterated his call, saying: “While the world has made great strides in tackling HIV and Aids we need to step up our efforts. The battle is far from over, especially in poorer countries where stigma, lack of awareness and a scarcity of life-saving medicines remain.

“Aids is still the biggest killer of women of reproductive age around the world, and every week about 7,000 young women are infected with HIV.

“UK Aid Match means that every time the British public donate to the AIDSfree appeal, we match their donations pound for pound and their generosity goes twice as far. We passionately believe we can create an Aids-free future for the whole world. That’s the scale of our ambition.”

The forum was focusing on the UN’s “90-90-90” target, which aims to get at least 90 per cent of people with HIV knowing their status, 90 per cent of these on treatment, and 90 per cent of those on treatment to have an “undetectable viral load”, where the levels of virus in the blood are so low it cannot be passed on.