World AIDS Day
2018
World AIDS Day 2018 Theme Announced – “Know Your Status”UNAIDS estimates
that more than 9.4 million people living with HIV still do not know their
status.
September 11, 2018
Event: World AIDS Day 2018 - Know your status
Tuesday, 11 September 2018 (PANCAP Coordinating Unit, CARICOM
Secretariat): The theme for the 2018 observance of World AIDS Day is
“Know your status”.
The 30th
anniversary of World AIDS Day will be marked on 1 December 2018. Since 1988,
the AIDS response has made significant progress and today millions of people
living with HIV are leading healthy and productive lives. But we still have
miles to go, as the latest UNAIDS report shows, and one of the challenges
remaining is knowledge of HIV status.
HIV testing is essential for expanding treatment and achieving the
90-90-90 Targets. It also empowers people to make choices about HIV
prevention, so that they can protect themselves and their loved ones.
Many
barriers to HIV testing remain and UNAIDS estimates that more than 9.4
million people living with HIV still do not know their status. Stigma and
discrimination deter people from taking an HIV test. Access to confidential HIV
testing remains an issue of concern. Many people get tested only after becoming
ill and symptomatic. This leads to HIV treatment being initiated late,
undermining its many benefits for both treatment and prevention. At the same
time, there are many new opportunities to expand access to HIV testing.
Self-testing, community-based testing services, and multi-disease testing are
helping people to know their HIV status.
HIV testing
programmes must be expanded. For this, we need political will and investment,
as well as novel and innovative approaches to HIV testing that are fully
leveraged and taken to scale.
In the
coming weeks and months, we will be sharing more campaign ideas and materials
via PANCAP.org.
PANCAP anticipates a highly successful World AIDS Day 2018. Join
us!
On
World AIDS Day 2018, the Department of Justice reaffirms its commitment to
ensuring that people living with HIV and AIDS can enjoy lives free from stigma
and discrimination. By enforcing civil rights laws such as the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA), and educating members of the public on their rights and
responsibilities under the law, the Department seeks to ensure that the more
than one million Americans with HIV can live with dignity and respect.
To
learn more about the Department's work, please visit https://www.ada.gov/hiv/