Advancing equitable, person-centred HIV prevention and care in Europe – a World Health Summit 2026 side event

Birgit Poniatowski is the Executive Director of IAS – the International AIDS Society – and was appointed in November 2020. This followed more than five years at the organization, leading an expanding team responsible for resource mobilization, sustainable partnerships across diverse sectors and key strategic initiatives. She has more than 20 years of public health and international development experience. Before joining the IAS, Birgit was the Director for Investment and Partnerships at the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition. Earlier, she managed partnerships and supported the alliance’s multi-stakeholder governance processes at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. Birgit was educated at Bonn and Heidelberg Universities in Germany and International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan. She holds a PhD from Heidelberg University.

Nina Tumanyan is a project manager at AIDS Action Europe, a network of more than 170 community-led HIV service organizations across Europe. She works on policy and advocacy, including access to PrEP, coordinates the European HIV Legal Forum, and leads capacity building across the network on chemsex and harm reduction. She holds a Master’s in human rights from the University of Vienna and a Master of Public Health from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.

Maja Stošić is a physician, epidemiologist and public health expert with over 20 years of experience in infectious disease epidemiology, public health programme development and health systems strengthening. She is affiliated with the Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanović Batut” and currently serves as Manager of the Global Fund HIV Grant in Serbia, leading the implementation of the national programme, “Maintaining Low HIV Prevalence in Serbia”. Her professional expertise encompasses tuberculosis, HIV and AIDS, vaccine-preventable diseases, epidemiological surveillance, antimicrobial resistance, monitoring and evaluation, and evidence-informed public health policy. She has extensive experience working with the World Health Organization, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, the Global Fund and other international partners, serving as a national coordinator, technical expert and consultant on complex health programmes. She is an author and co-author of numerous scientific publications and actively contributes to strengthening evidence-based public health practice, policy and international collaboration.

Miloš Perić is a programme coordinator at PRIMUS – Center for the Development of Preventive Intersectoral Services – and Co-Founder of CheckPoint Belgrade. He has been involved in the HIV response, health and human rights for more than 15 years, with experience in HIV prevention, community-based services, counselling, advocacy, training and project management. Miloš is a certified voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) counsellor, chemsex counsellor and trainer of trainers. At CheckPoint Belgrade, he provides person-centred HIV prevention, testing, counselling and support, focusing on making services more accessible and responsive to people’s individual needs. He has coordinated more than 10 projects, including at the European level, and served as a team leader in national HIV prevalence research among key populations in Serbia in 2010, 2013 and 2021. His recent work, supported by the International AIDS Society, has focused on improving access to PrEP beyond CheckPoint Belgrade through strengthening VCT counsellors’ capacity and promoting person-centred PrEP services.

Olga Avdeeva is a fund portfolio manager at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, where she leads country portfolios and strategic investments in eastern Europe and central Asia. She works with governments and partners to improve HIV, tuberculosis and malaria outcomes, strengthen health systems and advance sustainable national responses. Since joining the Global Fund in 2009, her work has spanned portfolio leadership, strategic investment, performance and impact and sustainability and transition. She worked with the World Health Organization and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies on health systems policy and reform and managed health sector projects at the World Bank. She has also advised UNAIDS and governments on priority setting and the effective use of health resources. A health economist and public health specialist, her interests centre on how countries translate health investments into better outcomes and sustain those gains as they assume greater financial and institutional responsibility for their national responses.

Liudmyla Legkostup is the National Coordinator for HIV Prevention, Care and Support Programmes at the State Institution “Public Health Center of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine”. Her work focuses on shaping national HIV policies and service delivery systems, providing strategic coordination of programmes for key populations and people living with HIV. She contributes to developing legislation, clinical guidelines and service standards, aligning healthcare and community providers across the HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care continuum. She has contributed to integrating HIV prevention, care and support into government-funded national programmes and developing mechanisms for financing and delivering these services through non-governmental organizations. She holds Master’s degrees in biology and healthcare management and completed a Fogarty International Fellowship at the University at the Albany School of Public Health. She has authored and co-authored publications on HIV and public health.

Stephen Amoah is a programme manager at Afrikaherz Berlin and a senior researcher at the Center for Development Research, University of Bonn, Germany. He has over 10 years of experience in global health and community-based research, with a focus on migrant health, HIV and STI prevention, non-communicable diseases, nutrition and health promotion. His work bridges academic research and community-based health intervention, particularly among migrant communities. He has contributed to and coordinated national and international projects, including MiSSA, RODAM, CORE and Mi Health. His work also includes community engagement, capacity building and the development of culturally acceptable approaches to prevention and care. He holds a Dr.rer.medic (research doctorate in medical sciences) from Charité, Berlin, and an MSc in international health from Heidelberg University.

Denis Onyango is Director of Programmes at the Africa Advocacy Foundation, where he leads initiatives advancing health equity and promoting policies that ensure that migrant communities have equal access to healthcare and other opportunities. With more than 20 years of experience in public health, policy and advocacy, Denis has helped shape inclusive responses to infectious and non-communicable diseases across the UK and the WHO European Region. He leads Mi-Health Europe, an initiative that strengthens migrant-focused organizations to support communities better. He is a founding member of the Nobody Left Outside Collective, which works to improve healthcare for migrants, LGBTQ+ people, populations experiencing homelessness, sex workers, people who inject drugs and people in prisons. Denis has served on several national and European advisory boards, bringing expertise in public health, policy and the community sector.

Ferenc Bagyinszky (they/he) is an HIV and human rights activist from Hungary, currently based in Berlin, Germany, as Executive Coordinator of AIDS Action Europe, a network of over 270 NGOs in Europe and central Asia. Ferenc works at the European advocacy level on issues of affordability of medicines and access to combination prevention, treatment and care programmes for key populations, with particular focus on legal environments and stigma and discrimination. Ferenc was the European delegate on the NGO Delegation to the UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board from 2016 to 2018. Ferenc is currently a member of the WHO Europe Regional Collaborating Committee on Accelerated Response to Tuberculosis, HIV and Viral Hepatitis and a Steering Committee member of the EuroTEST initiative. He is one of two community representatives on the European Standards of HIV Care Advisory Groups of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.