About us

Who we are

The World Health Organization (WHO) Department of HIV/AIDS provides evidence-based, technical support to Member States in scaling up treatment, care and prevention services and supply of HIV commodities to enable a comprehensive and sustainable response to HIV in countries. WHO is a Cosponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS).

Where we work

The Department is part of the WHO HTM Cluster for HIV, TB, Malaria and Neglected tropical Diseases. It works in close linkages with related departments at the Headquarters working in areas such as reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, tuberculosis, blood safety, essential drugs and medicines policy, disease surveillance, mental health, vaccine and microbicide development, and substance dependence. In addition, the Department also coordinates across WHO’s HIV activities at Regional and Country offices.

• WHO HIV Programme organogram, September 2012
  pdf, 67kb
• Related departments at the HQ working in HIV-related areas
• HIV/AIDS unit of the Regional Office for Africa (AFRO)
• HIV/AIDS unit of the Regional Office for the Americas (AMRO/PAHO)
• HIV/AIDS and STD unit of the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO)
• HIV/AIDS unit of the Regional Office for Europe (EURO)
• HIV/AIDS unit of the Regional Office for South-East Asia (SEARO)
• HIV/AIDS unit of the Regional Office for the Western Pacific (WPRO)

What we do

Since the beginning of the epidemic, WHO has led the global health sector response to HIV. As a Cosponsor of the UNAIDS, WHO takes the lead on the priority areas of HIV treatment and care, and HIV/tuberculosis co-infection, and jointly coordinates with UNICEF the work on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV. The Department works to support WHO Member States in enhancing their action to implement the Global health sector strategy on HIV for 2011-2015.

• Read GHSS 2011-2015 strategy
• Read advocacy brief
• Read operational plan
• Read story on the GHSS 2011-2015 launch
• View advocacy video and message by Dr Margaret Chan, WHO Director-General
• Read WHO HIV/AIDS Programme highlights in 2008-2009

Stay connected

For more information on our Department’s activities and products, please visit our website: www.who.int/hiv. Send us your feedback and queries by filling in the Feedback form http://www.who.int/hiv/about/feedback/en/index.html or by directly emailing to
hiv-aids@who.int. You can also register in our Stakeholders’ database by writing to
hiv-aids@who.int indicating your interest on specific topics or types of collaboration. This will enable you to receive regular updates from our Department.

Internship opportunities

The HIV Department has been accepting interns from over 40 countries. Interns work on HIV/AIDS prevention and care topics at a global level, and are assigned an experienced supervisor who mentors them on a specific project related to their interests. Internships usually require a commitment of 6 to 12 weeks and are unremunerated. However, a limited amount of scholarships are available through GenevaWISE (A Geneva-based NGO) for students living and studying in resource-limited countries.