Tagged: World AIDS Day

  • Refocusing on the fight: Communicating about HIV during COVID-19

    While COVID-19 has been at the center of health concerns since early 2020, the fight to end HIV continues. How are HIV communicators in the United States effectively engaging with their priority audiences? Here, four HIV communicators explain why they are passionate about their work and discuss how, in the current environment, they can best reach people in the United States who historically have had to bear the largest burden of HIV.

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  • Bringing heart and mind to the fight against HIV

    The rapid spread of the Ebola virus through human-to-human contact — compelled by the urge to embrace a family member with symptoms of infection, to transport a neighbor to the nearest clinic, to nurse the infected or bury the dead despite the lack of basic protective gear — reminds us of the complex relationship between health and human behavior.

    Like Ebola, HIV was once an emergent infectious disease. Although HIV may take years rather than days to kill its victims, similarities exist between HIV and Ebola in the conditions that facilitate their spread and the challenges to containing both diseases. Highly stigmatized, those who fear infection may avoid being tested or disclosing to loved ones; those diagnosed may face limited treatment options provided by harried health care workers within overburdened health care systems.

    Now in its fourth decade, the fight against HIV has seen tremendous breakthroughs in medical technology. A spectrum of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment options now exists and is available around the globe. Clinical studies have proven that taking a daily oral ARV-based pill can reduce a healthy person’s chance of getting the infection — and, other types of ARV prevention products (i.e., gels, rings and injections) are on the horizon. Increased testing through provider-initiated strategies has increased access to both treatment and prevention technologies. There is even some thought that we will have a cure for HIV one day.

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  • A world without AIDS? A promising approach is bringing Vietnam closer

    For those of us who work in the field of HIV, words like “eradication” or “elimination” are not commonly used. Yet, new evidence and tools suggest that getting to zero might just be possible if we look at HIV through a fresh lens and focus our limited resources in strategic ways. As World AIDS Day nears, an example in Vietnam shows one promising approach.

    Vietnam is at a tipping point. The country is working hard to scale up methadone maintenance treatment for injecting drug users and to provide antiretroviral (ARV) treatment for those living with HIV. External resources, however, are declining and every dollar (or Vietnamese dong (VND)) makes a difference. The cascade of HIV care — an approach that links prevention outreach, testing and treatment services across a continuum of care — helps identify the key opportunities to improve services to stop the spread of HIV. This tool has come to Vietnam at a critical time. Vietnam’s HIV epidemic is still in a concentrated phase, with the highest seroprevalence among populations at higher risk. These include injecting drug users, female sex workers and men who have sex with men.

    Using the cascade — in every facility, commune, district and province — helps Vietnam monitor HIV service system performance and focus its remaining human, financial and programmatic resources on the ultimate aim of the HIV response: viral suppression. The cascade approach identifies “leaks” in the system to target resources on interventions that diagnose people with HIV, initiate ARV treatment quickly and sustain those individuals with continued care. Knowing where the drop-offs are most pronounced can assist decision makers and service providers in implementing system improvements and service enhancements that make the greatest impact on individuals, communities and Vietnamese society.

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  • The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has released their 2013 report, AIDS by the Numbers, which contains its latest data on the state of the epidemic globally and the progress made over the last decade. The report shows the world is coming closer to ending the AIDS epidemic but that significant challenges remain in getting to zero.

    In 2012, an estimated:
    • 35.3 million [32.2 million – 38.8 million] people globally were living with HIV
    • 2.3 million [1.9 million – 2.7 million] people became newly infected with HIV
    • 1.6 million [1.4 million – 1.9 million] people died from AIDS-related illnesses

    AIDS by the Numbers presents a wealth of data on a range of topics, such as HIV infections, access to treatment and AIDS-related deaths, along with regional statistics on HIV.

    Learn more about AIDS by the Numbers.

    Follow @UNAIDS to join the conversation.

  • World AIDS Day 2011

    In observance of World AIDS Day on December 1st, we will be sharing personal perspectives on how HIV has impacted our lives over the last 30 years and where we will be in the future. Check back each day until World AIDS Day for posts and videos from our staff.

    Share your perspectives: How has HIV impacted your life over the last 30 years?

     us your perspectives and thoughts. Include #WorldAIDSDay and @FHI360 to add to the conversation.


    • Who Gets the HAART? Policy Implications for a Limited Resource

      The rapid scale up of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for HIV infection has been a global health success. On World AIDS Day (December 1, 2011), UNAIDSestimates we currently have 6.6 million HIV-infected people on antiretroviral agents (ARV), a number that was inconceivable less than...

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    • FHI 360’s HIV/AIDS Work in Action

      For the last 30 years, FHI 360 has been committed to addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS in all corners of the world through solid research and innovative programs...

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    • Visioning the End of AIDS

      During the past few years, the world has made remarkable progress toward defeating the HIV epidemic. According to reports from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), new HIV infections have dropped 21 percent since 1997 and deaths from AIDS-related illnesses have decreased by 21...

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    • HPTN 052 Study: Implications for Treatment as Prevention

      Leading up to World AIDS Day, there have been rallying calls to scale up HIV prevention and treatment services around the world. When it comes to treatment as prevention, there is little doubt that the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 052 study has played an important role in furthering our...

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    • Non-communicable Diseases on World AIDS Day: What’s the Connection?

      Peter Lamptey, President of Public Health Programs at FHI 360, discusses the link between HIV and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and why FHI 360 is investing in developing platforms to help manage the burden of NCDs.

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    • Magic’s HIV Announcement (20 years ago)

      Recently, I was reminded that my research on HIV started 20 years ago and at the time, I didn’t know it. November 7th, 1991 was the day that Magic Johnson announced that he was/is HIV positive...

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