World Aids Day – 1st December 2024

  [caption id="attachment_3064" align="aligncenter" width="640"]HIV poster World AIDS Day 2024[/caption]     The world can end AIDS – if everyone’s rights are protected. With human rights at the centre, with communities in the lead, the world can end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. On 1 December WHO joins partners and communities to commemorate World AIDS Day 2024. Under the theme “Take the rights path: My health, my right!”, WHO is calling on global leaders and citizens to champion the right to health by addressing the inequalities that hinder progress in ending AIDS. Make Your Voice Count! On 1st December, speak up for health equity. Help us ensure that everyone, everywhere, has the right to quality healthcare services in the fight against HIV and AIDS. In 2023, an estimated 39.9 Million people were living with HIV globally. Approximately 630 000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2023 An estimated 1.3 million people acquired HIV in 2023.  

Key Messages

  Health is a human right. Everyone should have access to the health services they need, including HIV prevention, treatment and care services when and where they need them. Protecting rights means ensuring that healthcare is available to everyone, without any discrimination, regardless of their HIV status, background, gender, or where they live. Prevention empowers and protects. Empowering individuals with access to HIV prevention tools, education, and services protects not only their health but also their rights. Equal access to prevention is key to stopping new infections. Address stigma and discrimination. Stigma and discrimination undermine the fight against AIDS. Protecting human rights is essential to achieving universal HIV care and breaking down barriers to access. Prioritize and reach vulnerable and key populations. Ending AIDS requires that we prioritize and engage everyone who is living with, at risk for or affected by HIV, including vulnerable and marginalized populations - children, men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who use drugs, sex workers, and people in prisons and other closed settings. This is essential to ensure an effective and durable response to HIV that honour's the right to health. Champion access to life-saving treatment to achieve HIV viral suppression. With early diagnosis and consistent antiretroviral therapy, people living with HIV can lead long, healthy lives—just like those who are HIV-negative. Achieving and maintaining an undetectable viral load by taking antiretroviral therapy as prescribed means zero risk of transmission, empowering individuals and protecting communities. Advance towards an AIDS-free future. By protecting everyone’s right to health and bringing down new infections, we can achieve an AIDS-free generation and ensure the sustainability of the HIV response.