UNAIDS appoints new deputy head of program

Luiz Loures is set to serve as the deputy executive director of the Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS starting Jan. 1, 2013.

Loures succeeds Paul de Lay, who is retiring at the end of the year. As deputy executive director of the program, he is expected to lead UNAIDS’ efforts to promote an integrated, comprehensive, evidence-based and sufficiently funded global response to HIV. Among his duties would be to monitor HIV programs’ coverage, support capacity-building initiatives at the country level and evaluate the effectiveness of HIV response at the country, regional and global levels.

Loures has been part of UNAIDS since its launch in 1996. He currently serves as director of the organization’s executive office, where he oversees the strategic thinking process and assists the executive director in shaping and implementing UNAIDS’ strategy. Prior to this, he served as associate director of the Europe and Americas Division.

Even before joining UNAIDS, Loures has dedicated a large part of his career to HIV response. He served as special adviser on AIDS to Brazil’s health ministry, among other positions in his more than 25 years in the field.

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