By Tosin Adesile
The 2023 World Aids day has come and gone leaving us with a reflection to continue raising awareness and let love leads. Today, depression has killed many as a result of stigmatisation. Instead of shaming those with HIV/AIDS, let us show love instead.
The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day 2023 is “Let communities lead.” December 1st every year is AIDS Day and this serves as a global platform for raising awareness about the disease, emphasizing that HIV remains a prevalent issue demanding attention from both individuals and governments. It is also an occasion for people worldwide to join forces in the ongoing fight against HIV, express solidarity with those living with the virus, and honor the memory of those who lost their lives due to AIDS-related illnesses.
According to the WHO website,it states that this year’s theme is a call to action to support and empower communities to take on leadership roles, rather than just celebrating the accomplishments of individual communities.
As we speak, globally, it is estimated that we have around 39 million people leaving with HIV/AIDS, 1.3 million newly infected people with HIV, 630,000 death from AIDS related illness, 29.8 million People accessing antiretroviral therapy, 85.6 million Total infections since the start of the epidemic and 40.4 million total deaths from AIDS-related illnesses. With the Statistics provided by WHO, it is evident that there are progress in the HIV/AIDS advocacy.
The HIV response has not progressed without the support of youth leaders, key population networks, and communities living with and impacted by the virus. For this level of progress,lot of support was received in the area of prevention, testing, and treatment, foster trust, develop creative solutions, advance health, keep an eye on how policies and programs are being carried out, and hold healthcare professionals responsible.
The history of World AIDS Day dated back to December 1, 1988 remains unforgettable in our mouth as James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter were the first to observe the pandemic and spread awareness about it. As the awareness continues year-in,year out,it is our hope that communities will be allowed to lead in the area of awareness and several advocacy to ensure that HIV/AIDS is totally wiped out.
Let it be known that HIV/AIDS can be managed if detected early and it is important to submit to testing occasionally. In all,let the communities lead, let love leads.