Achieving Equity to End HIV

Each year on December 1st the global community unites to remember the many lives lost to HIV-related illnesses, while bringing light to issues that continue to drive the HIV and AIDS pandemic. World AIDS Day underscores the global community’s commitment to ending HIV and AIDS while reinforcing the knowledge that there is still much more work to be done

While medical advancements and better scientific knowledge of HIV and AIDS is remarkable and should be celebrated, we must address other issues and setbacks which continue to fuel a pandemic that has spanned more than forty years. COVID-19 and other global crises, including monkeypox virus (MPX), have negatively impacted the progress towards ending HIV in the coming years. According to UNAIDS, resources for HIV prevention, care, and treatment have significantly decreased over the last two years leaving millions worldwide at risk for HIV infection.

From the first days of the HIV and AIDS pandemic, inequalities and stigma have kept millions of people especially those most at risk for HIV infection (men who have sex with men, transgender people, sex workers, people in prison, and people who use drugs) from accessing HIV care, treatment and prevention services. This year’s World AIDS Day theme both in the United States and globally is a call to action for healthcare equity. Economic, social, legal, and cultural inequalities continue to drive the HIV pandemic, limiting progress in the global goal to end HIV.

By addressing health inequalities within our Nation’s HIV response, it puts equity at the forefront. Removing barriers to healthcare services for people most affected by HIV will have a positive impact on the health and lives of people in vulnerable communities. Not only will it help stop new HIV infections, it will also help people with HIV live longer, healthier lives. With the right HIV treatment medicine and maintaining an undetectable viral load, a person with HIV can expect to live as long as their peers and not pass HIV to others through sex.

Whether you’re an HIV advocate, ally, or medical or legal professional there are many ways you can help stop inequities, discrimination, and stigma in your community.

• Increasing availability of HIV education in addition to, prevention, testing, and treatment services in all communities, especially within vulnerable and medically underserved communities.
• Addressing and stopping stigma and discrimination faced by people living with HIV and AIDS and those most at risk for new infection, especially in communities with limited health information.
• Ensuring that technology, medical services, and education are equally accessible to all communities.

“We can end AIDS – if we end the inequalities which perpetuate it. This World AIDS Day we need everyone to get involved in sharing the message that we will all benefit when we tackle inequalities,” says UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima.

Everyone between the ages of 13 and 65 should be tested for HIV as part of a regular health routine. Early diagnosis and a comprehensive HIV treatment plan, including HIV medicine (antiretroviral therapy/ART), makes it possible to live healthy with HIV. Treatment helps keep the amount of virus in the body to an undetectable level preventing the virus from passing to sex partners (known as U=U).

Other HIV prevention methods, including using condoms, PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis), or PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis), will help end HIV across the U.S. and global communities. Frequent testing ensures early detection after exposure to HIV, further reducing the spread of new HIV infections in communities.

Get Tested. Know Your Status. End HIV.

New Jersey offers free HIV and other STI services to all state residents via the hotline. Knowing who to call for resources and information is the first step in ending the HIV epidemic in New Jersey. The hotline is staffed by health professionals (doctors, nurses, and pharmacists) available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide free, confidential help: Call: 1-800-624-2377 or Chat Here

• Referrals for testing, prevention, treatment, and other related services
• Prevention and treatment information for HIV, hepatitis, and other STIs (sexually transmitted infections)
• Information on the side effects of medicines used to treat HIV and other STIs
• Referrals to PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) services
• Counseling and treatment locations
• Referrals to harm reduction centers (syringe access available)
• Partner notification services
• New Jersey's AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP)Connect with NJ AIDS/HIV/STD Hotline

Connect with NJ AIDS/HIV/STD Hotline Twitter Facebook Website

Observance Day hashtags: #WorldAIDSDay; #WorldAIDSDay2022; #WAD

Resources/Toolkits: CDC and HIV.gov

This release was written by the NJ AIDS/HIV/STD Hotline