Achieving Equity to End HIV: #WorldAIDSDay 2022

Yesterday, we commemorated World AIDS Day with colleagues and partners across the globe. The day offered an important moment to remember those we’ve lost and recommit to the hard work of ending the HIV epidemic.

At our office in Washington, DC, we had a moving panel with international leaders who reflected on their experiences as clinicians and pioneers in national HIV responses in Ghana, Uganda, and Zambia. We also participated in World AIDS Day events on Capitol Hill and had the honor of celebrating the illustrious career of Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The U.S. Government theme for World AIDS Day 2022—Putting Ourselves to the Test: Achieving Equity to End HIV—and the UNAIDS “Equalize” slogan are critical calls to action. Similarly, PEPFAR’s new five-year strategy, Fulfilling America’s Promise to End the HIV/AIDS Pandemic by 2030, challenges partners to finish the work we started. 

Globally, there are approximately 1.5 million new cases of HIV every year, including over 35,000 new infections in the United States. A UNAIDS analysis, Dangerous inequalities, demonstrates how inequalities undermine our ability to end the HIV epidemic. COVID-19, mpox, and other infectious diseases also challenge our progress.

Amidst all this, work and progress continue. At JSI and World Education, we are working to scale up person-centered care for over 420,000 ART clients around the world; supporting meaningful involvement of people with lived experience in planning programs to serve people with HIV in all their diversity; and delivering tailored support within a family-based framework to overcome barriers to holistic treatment for children. In this work, we are united with partners, communities, advocates, people living with HIV, and funders to ensure equity in our response.

Antonia Powell & Gretchen Weiss
Co-Directors, JSI & World Education Center for HIV & Infectious Diseases