On World AIDS Day, celebrated on December 1st, the GHTM | IHMT NOVA reaffirms its commitment to HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment, through its ongoing projects MARVEL and BEST HOPE.
The MARVEL project (Molecular Approaches to Reduce Viral Exposure and Load) focuses on developing innovative strategies for monitoring and controlling HIV infection, contributing to a deeper understanding of viral transmission and resistance mechanisms.
At the same time, the BEST HOPE project (Bridging Effective Strategies for Treatment and HIV Outreach Programmes in Europe) promotes community and public health interventions, with particular emphasis on treatment adherence and access to quality care across diverse European contexts.
These projects are led by a dedicated team of GHTM researchers, – Ana Abecasis, Marta Pingarilho, Victor Pimentel, Cruz Sebastião (THOP-GHTM) and Maria do Rosário Oliveira Martins (PPS-GHTM) – whose expertise and commitment are central to advancing knowledge and solutions in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
95-95-95 UNAIDS Goals for Ending AIDS
GHTM’s initiatives align closely with the global public health agenda defined by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which aim to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. This global vision is supported by the commitment to achieve zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. To guide progress, UNAIDS has established ambitious global targets, including the 95-95-95 goals: ensuring that 95% of people living with HIV know their status, 95% of those diagnosed receive antiretroviral therapy, and 95% of those on treatment achieve viral suppression.
The current global strategy also seeks to reduce new infections and AIDS-related deaths by 90% compared with 2010 levels, while promoting universal access to prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care. Addressing inequalities, combating stigma, strengthening human rights protections, and ensuring that vulnerable and key populations have equitable access to health services are considered essential to achieving long-term success.
These goals integrate directly into the broader United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) — particularly SDG 3, which promotes health and well-being for all.
“We are very far from the targets set” to halt HIV
In an interview with Healthnews, Ana Abecasis mention that the latest data indicate that global HIV transmission remains far from the UNAIDS 2025 targets, with 1.3 million new infections in 2024—well above the goal of fewer than 370,000. “In Europe and Portugal, new diagnoses are concentrated among younger men who have sex with men and older heterosexual men, with late diagnosis and a high proportion of cases among people born abroad. In sub-Saharan Africa, incidence remains high among young people—particularly women—contrasting with Europe, where women represent a minority of new cases”.
The facilitator of Global Pathogen Dispersion and Population Mobility CCI-GHTM highlighted that characterizing the molecular epidemiology of HIV — through genomic surveillance, phylodynamics, and transmission-chain reconstruction — is crucial to understanding how the virus spreads and how this spread is linked to resistance mutations. “GHTM researchers are helping refine treatment recommendations and design more targeted prevention strategies—particularly important as new and late diagnoses increasingly occur among individuals for whom traditional prevention approaches are less effective.”mv
Moreover, in African contexts, where access to healthcare and tailored treatment options is limited, “we have implemented genomic surveillance projects such as MARVEL and HITOLA in Angola, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, and Mozambique” said Ana Abecasis, adding that “these studies have generated, in some cases for the first time, comprehensive epidemiological, clinical, and genomic data on primary drug resistance, offering crucial insight into the effectiveness of first-line therapies funded by the Global Fund”. The team aims to expand this work to Guinea-Bissau, “where data remain extremely scarce, but funding is still lacking”.
Building on Portugal’s geographic position and longstanding historical ties with countries of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), GHTM | IHMT NOVA plays an active role in strengthening the global response to HIV. “Through cooperation, research, training, and capacity-building initiatives, the Institute works daily with CPLP partners to improve health indicators and support efforts ranging from health literacy and treatment access to epidemiological surveillance and policy development. This shared commitment — reinforced by a common language and scientific collaboration — ensures that Portugal and its research community continue to contribute meaningfully to HIV responses across the Lusophone world”, concluded Ana Abecasis.
For a deeper insight, read the full interview with Ana Abecasis here.
Through these projects, GHTM | IHMT NOVA reinforces its role in generating cutting-edge scientific knowledge and implementing practical solutions to address the HIV epidemic, contributing to global efforts to eliminate AIDS and to advance sexual and reproductive health worldwide.