The USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health, in partnership with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), invites you to join us for “Ending Inequalities, Ending AIDS, and Preventing New Pandemics in the Americas.”
 
This side event to the Ninth Summit of the Americas aims to catalyze action to address the underlying inequalities that have fueled the AIDS pandemic, generate disparities in access to COVID-19 vaccines, and leave our countries ill-prepared for future pandemics. Policymakers, academia and civil society actors will engage in discussion to highlight the interlinkages between inequalities and pandemics, identify challenges and opportunities to reduce them, and provide recommendations for action based on available evidence and promising practices. The panel will explore ways to place human rights and eliminating inequalities at the forefront of regional and global health agendas to address current and future pandemics in the Americas.
 
Speakers include:   

• J. Peter Figueroa — Professor, The University of the West Indies, former head of the Jamaican HIV/STI Program (1986–2008); Chair, PAHO Technical Advisory Group (TAG) on Immunization; Co-chair, WHO SAGE Working Group on Polio; Member, WHO Working Group on COVID-19 vaccines (Jamaica)
• Amaranta Gomez — Regional Secretary, International Secretariat for Indigenous Peoples HIV, Sexuality, and Human Rights (Mexico)
• Victoria Donda — President, National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism (Argentina) 
• Maria Clara Gianna — Director, Sao Paulo State HIV program; responsible for state COVID-19 response (Brazil)
• Luisa Cabal — Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, UNAIDS (Colombia)