World AIDS Day

Every year, on December 01, the world commemorates World AIDS Day. People around the world unite to show support for people living with and affected by HIV and to remember those who lost their lives to AIDS.

This World AIDS Day, UNAIDS is highlighting the urgent need to end the inequalities that drive AIDS around the world.

The day is an opportunity for public and private partners to spread awareness and encourage progress in HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care around the world.

Without bold action against inequalities, the world risks missing the targets to end AIDS by 2030, as well as a prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and a spiraling social and economic crisis.

Forty years since the first AIDS cases were reported, HIV still threatens the world. Today, the world is off track from delivering on the shared commitment to end AIDS by 2030, not because of a lack of knowledge or tools to beat AIDS, but because of structural inequalities that obstruct proven solutions to HIV prevention and treatment.

Economic, social, cultural and legal inequalities must be ended as a matter of urgency if we are to end AIDS by 2030. Although there is a perception that a time of crisis is not the right time to prioritize tackling the underlying social injustices, it is clear that without doing so the crisis cannot be overcome.

Tackling inequalities is a long-standing global promise, the urgency of which has only increased. In 2015, all countries pledged to reduce inequalities within and between countries as part of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Global AIDS Strategy 2021 to 2026, End Inequalities, End AIDS and the Political Declaration on AIDS adopted at the 2021 United Nations High-Level Meeting on AIDS have ended inequalities at their core.

World AIDS Day remains as relevant today as it’s always been, reminding people and governments that HIV has not gone away. There is still a critical need for increased funding for the AIDS response, to increase awareness of the impact of HIV on people’s lives, to end stigma and discrimination and to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.

You can celebrate World AIDS Day in a variety of forms. You may choose to honor the day by researching the impacts of AIDS or learning more about how HIV affects communities. You may want to educate yourself about harm reduction or learn how you can help end the stigma of HIV.

Participate in this year's World AIDS Day by shining a light on inequalities and doing your part in helping to address them. Use the materials on digital platforms to show the world that inequalities cost lives and it is time to end them.