Today on World AIDS Day, it is time to pay tribute to the millions of individuals all over the world who have stood up and spoken honestly and openly about HIV/AIDS.
It is time to acknowledge the women, men and young people who have broken the silence, stigma and discrimination surrounding AIDS. It is time to honour all persons who have displayed compassion to those who are suffering and helped to provide the treatment and support they need to survive.
And it is time to praise leaders in communities and nations who have advanced efforts to prevent HIV infection in the first place. Tackling HIV/AIDS means tackling prevention, treatment and care simultaneously. If there is one thing we have learned over the years, it is that the pandemic requires a comprehensive and coordinated response that promotes and respects human rights and links HIV/AIDS with sexual and reproductive health.
On this day, it is important to focus our attention on what we know is working and galvanize greater political commitment and financial resources towards these ends.
We know that successful HIV treatment paves the way for more effective HIV prevention. Universal access to prevention, treatment and care must be the ultimate goal.
Yet today only one person in five possesses the knowledge and means to prevent infection. And the stark reality is that despite gains made, close to five million people were newly infected this year, with women and young people disproportionately affected.
We will not reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS unless HIV prevention measures are intensified in scope and scale. Strategies must involve all people affected –including young people who constitute over half of all new infections worldwide each year- and respond to the realities they face.
If the local epidemic is driven by sex work or injecting drug use, then the strategies must respond to these behaviours. If the epidemic is sexually transmitted, then abstinence, delay of first sexual experience, fewer sexual partners, increased and consistent use of male and female condoms all have important roles to play.
In many countries, marriage and women’s own fidelity have not protected them against HIV infection. If prevention efforts are to succeed, they need to be complemented with efforts to engage men for more responsible behaviours and promote and protect the human rights of all women.
Together we must build on advances made and intensify the struggle to conquer HIV/AIDS.