INTERVIEW: Why I resigned as head of Nigeria's AIDS agency, NACA

At a time when morale at UNAIDS is said to be low, and new energy and resources are needed to combat Aids, the choice – which will be made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres – is a critical one, says Richard Horton, editor-in-chief of the influential British medical journal The Lancet.

I moved to the UK in 1998 to pursue a postgraduate programme in Internal Medicine. There, I was attracted once again to HIV medicine, after attaining dual membership of the Royal Colleges of Physician of the UK and Ireland. I worked as a junior doctor at the Mortimer Market Centre, the largest National Health Service-funded sexual health clinic in the UK, this time experiencing HIV medicine in a resource-rich environment.

You are a candidate for the post of Executive Director of UNAIDS. What specifically prepares and qualifies you for the job? The Nigeria HIV epidemic is a challenging and complex one, beset by accountability issues, barriers to accessing services, human rights abuses and social injustice. To succeed in such an environment requires resilience and strong negotiation skills. I have successfully led the turnaround of the Nigeria HIV response, which over the years had defied progress.

Clearly, some hard choices will need to be made and a meaningful consultation of stakeholders is the sine qua non. Pressing a strategic reset with co-sponsors would be key to building a new élan for the Joint Programme, building on the UN Secretary-General’s on-going bold reform, especially at the country level and aligned with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. One of UNAIDS key strengths has been the unity and consensus of its Programme Coordinating Board .

We cannot afford to leave anybody behind. I will galvanize the political will and work with partners to mobilise the necessary resources to ensure we get back on track for 2030.

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