Advocacy

There is widespread recognition that community responses to HIV need to be scaled-up, resourced at much higher levels and integrated into national AIDS plans if UNAIDS Fast-Track targets are to be met by 2020. A new report from UNAIDS and Stop AIDS Alliance provides a summary of existing evidence that shows how community responses result in positive health outcomes and improved quality of life for individuals and communities at large.

Communities deliver shows how community responses reach people in need of prevention, treatment and care through activities such as advocacy, financing, participation in accountability mechanisms, research and the delivery of services. The report provides a categorization of the different types of community responses to HIV and includes illustrative examples of each kind of community action from around the world.

The report is currently available in English and will soon be translated into French, Russian and Spanish.

Liu Jiulong is the first person in China to complete an AIDS RIDE. This fundraiser and HIV awareness raising bicycling event has been popular in other countries like the USA for many years. However, in China, fear of stigma and discrimination has kept many people living with HIV from taking part in public events.

“Cycling promotes a healthy lifestyle and the AIDS RIDE is a good way to promote correct knowledge about HIV prevention to the general public,” said Liu Jiulong.

His mission was to use the challenge to eliminate ignorance, misunderstanding, fear and discrimination against people living with HIV. His odyssey began on 4 May in Nanchang city, his home town. He rode his bike for 3 000 km, cycling through 27 cities. He completed his journey in Beijing 43 days later. Liu Jiulong hosted  30 outreach  events during his trip, reaching 16 million people online.

Speaking about his accomplishment after crossing the finish line, he said, “There were so many people involved and I enjoyed the mutual support we gave each other.”

Life was anything but great in 2007 when Liu Jiulong was diagnosed with HIV. He was working at an advertising company in Beijing. “I thought I wasn’t going to live to be 35 years old. I felt worthless and also very guilty and bad towards my family,” said Liu Jiulong. He also experienced stigma and discrimination when people stoppedspeaking to him after learningabout his status.

He felt so desperate that he even tried to commit suicide. Eventually, with the support of caring doctors, nurses and volunteer supporters at the Beijing Youan Hospital he made it through those dark days and decided to move back to his home town. He founded an organization called “Love Service Station” to support people living with HIV in Nanchang City.

Liu Jiulong started taking antiretroviral treatment for HIV in 2009 and said it has changed his life, “With life-saving treatment, I’m in a good situation. I can complete the 3 000 km AIDS RIDE.”

Liu Jiulong wants other people living with HIV to know that with effective self-management of HIV and by taking antiretroviral treatment, they can improve the quality of their life. He is proud of his recent achievement, “It’s a great feeling.”

On Nelson Mandela International Day, 18 July, UNAIDS brought together a small group of artists for a joint visit to South Africa to raise awareness about HIV among young people.

The grandsons of Nelson Mandela, Ndaba and Kweku Mandela, joined the group, which included North American actress and singer Zendaya and Norwegian musical duo Nico & Vinz.

The group met with young people living with HIV to learn about the challenges they face on a daily basis to access HIV and other health-related services. They also visited several HIV programmes and witnessed how a community-led health programme is providing HIV services in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, near the birthplace of former President Mandela.

HIV is the number one contributor to adolescent mortality in Africa. Discrimination, poverty, inequalities and harsh laws often prevent adolescents from seeking and receiving HIV testing, health care and support. Too many adolescents do not get tested for HIV or receive counselling, especially adolescents at a higher risk of HIV infection and the most marginalized adolescents—adolescent girls, adolescent males who have sex with males, adolescents who inject drugs and sexually exploited adolescents.

The visit gave the group an insight of the importance of removing barriers to access HIV testing and the participants had the opportunity to engage with the ProTESTHIV initiative, which promotes HIV testing.

UNAIDS opens first exhibition on new digital gallery as UNAIDS launches its new book, How AIDS changed everything—MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lessons of hope from the AIDS response.

GENEVA, 14 July 2015—UNAIDS launched today the White Table Gallery, a new digital platform that will host exhibitions relating to the AIDS response. The first exhibition, entitled Everyday Objects and a Cat, shows how “things” can hold special meanings in the AIDS response and represent bigger ideas around health and development.

The new gallery is an extension of the new UNAIDS book, How AIDS changed everything—MDG 6: 15 years, 15 lessons of hope from the AIDS response. The book includes lessons learned from reaching the AIDS targets of Millennium Development Goal 6 that can inform and transform the work towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

“Innovation and inspiration have been key to the success of the AIDS response. By continually pushing ourselves to ask “what’s new and what’s next” we have remained at the cutting edge of global health,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Platforms like the White Table Gallery will enable us to engage with new creative partners.”

As in every exhibition, individual pieces tell their own story, but also contribute to explain and give meaning to the bigger picture of which they form a part. The White Table Gallery intends to explain the AIDS epidemic using digital media in order to raise awareness and engage young people. The digital platform uses photos, videos, images and audio files to capture stories and moments in time. Everyday Objects and a Cat will run through to October 2015.

UNAIDS

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners towards ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.