December 1st marks World AIDS Day, with this date's main objective being to increase public awareness and support those who suffer from this disease and pay homage to those who have died infected. The creation of this day was an initiative of James Bunn and Thomas Netter, two officers of the World Health Organization's (WHO) World AIDS Programme. Having gained supporters inside and outside the WHO, given its implementation in 1988, where the date was marked for the first time that year.
The first symptoms of AIDS are: chronic tiredness, fever, weight loss, persistent cough, herpes and oral infections, enlarged lymph nodes and changes in mental functions such as memory loss. Opportunistic diseases such as cancer, meningitis, pneumonia and tuberculosis can also take advantage of a weakened immune system. HIV weakens the human immune system, preventing it from fighting the infection effectively. A person can live with the virus for ten years or more without any symptoms appearing and without any illness being declared during most of this period, although it can infect other people.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS, can be transmitted in four ways, such as:
- A transfusion of contaminated blood or an organ or tissue implant;
- Unprotected sexual relations with an HIV-positive partner, which is the most common;
- From mother to child during the gestation period or through breastfeeding;
- The use of needles or other contaminated piercing instruments.
Progress has been made over the last decade, resulting in a decrease in new infections by 44% and AIDS-related deaths by 55%. But even so, progress is slow, and inequalities in HIV prevention, testing and treatment services persist. WHO data on the global HIV response reveals that since the start of COVID-19 and other global crises, progress against HIV has wavered, and resources have dwindled, leaving millions of lives at risk. Four decades after the start of the HIV response, inequalities persist in the most basic services, such as screening and treatment. HIV prevention programs reach only 40% of adolescent girls and young women, and only one in three key populations particularly vulnerable to HIV has regular access to HIV prevention services.
Unfortunately, there are still significant structural barriers, discrimination, criminalization and stigma. On this World AIDS Day, we must close the gaps in inequalities that hold back progress towards ending AIDS, focusing on populations being left behind, expanding and maintaining access to essential health services HIV prevention and treatment for all, using innovative service delivery models. We must ensure that everyone, everywhere has equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.