2020 World Aids Day |01 December 2020

Global solidarity, shared responsibility

First observed in 1988, every year, on December 1, the world commemorates World Aids Day.

In 2020, the world’s attention has been focused by the Covid-19 pandemic on health and how pandemics affect lives and livelihoods. Covid-19 is showing once again how health is interlinked with other critical issues, such as reducing inequality, human rights, gender equality, social protection and economic growth. With this in mind, this year the UNAids global theme of the 32^nd World Aids Day is ‘Global solidarity, shared responsibility’.

Covid-19 has demonstrated that, during a pandemic, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Leaving people behind is not an option if we are to succeed. Eliminating stigma and discrimination, putting people at the centre and grounding our responses in human rights and gender-responsive approaches are key to ending the colliding pandemics of HIV and Covid-19.

Global solidarity and shared responsibility require us to view global health responses, including the Aids response, in a new way. It requires the world to come together to ensure that health is fully financed, health systems are strengthened, access to lifesaving medicines, vaccines and diagnostics is ensured, human rights are respected and rights of women and girls and gender equality are at the centre.

More information will be madeavailable at https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/campaigns/world-aids-day-2020.

Please let us know what you are planning this World Aids Day.  If you have already decided on a specific activity, let us know what you are doing.  If not, you may wish to consider the following:

1. Wear a red ribbon as a symbol of hope or distribute red ribbons in your workplace / communities
2. Organise a candlelight vigil
3. Decorate a World Aids day tree, lamp-post, fence, wall or bulletin board in memory of those who have died of Aids
4. Write a letter or editorial to local newspaper
5. Set up an information booth
6. Send a World Aids Day e-card to friends and family urging their support for Aids awareness
7. Address HIV/Aids issues in your workplace
8. Educate employees about HIV and Aids testing/prevention/treatment
9. Place a World Aids Day poster/message at front windows, or reception/checkout counters

10. Invite an NGO, health care worker or person living with HIV to talk about stigma/ discrimination

Thank you for showing your care and concern this World Aids Day 2020.

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Campaign key messages and call to action

Key messages

1. Renew our fight to end Aids

It’s time to invest, innovate and integrate HIV services with broader health care and the pandemic response, to help us get back on track to end HIV by 2030. We are missing the global targets for 2020. On December 1, we renew our call to do better.

2. Use innovative HIV services to ensure continued HIV care

There are many new approaches countries are adopting to ensure HIV care during the pandemic – for example providing multi-month prescriptions of HIV medicines to protect the health of people on HIV treatment and to reduce the burden on a stretched health service.

3. Engage and protect nurses, midwives and community health workers

Nurses and midwives are on the frontline of HIV care, treatment and prevention. In this year of the Nurse and the Midwife, we urge policymakers to ensure that frontline health workers, nurses, midwives and community health workers are engaged, supported and protected when delivering services for HIV and Covid-19.

4. Prioritise the vulnerable – youth and key populations

We need to ensure continued provision of HIV services for children, adolescents and key populations during Covid-19. Key populations include people who use drugs, men who have sex with men, sex workers, transgender people and people in prisons that are disproportionately affected by HIV.

Call to action

Health workers

• Advocate for maintaining high quality essential HIV services during the Covid pandemic;

• Incorporate HIV into routine health interventions;

• Deliver care that is kind, respectful of human rights and without stigma;

• Ensure you are trained and aware of infection prevention and control and that you use appropriate measures;

• Protect your safety and that of the people you care for. 

Ministries of Health, National Aids commissions and other public health leaders

• Take decisive action to revive and maintain essential HIV services during the Covid-19 pandemic;

• Allocate sufficient resources to improve the quality of HIV services and make them more resilient and sustainable;

• Support and empower frontline health workers (nurses, midwives and community health workers) to deliver high-quality HIV services, while recognising their critical contributions in providing HIV services;

• Ensure appropriate and sufficient personal protective equipment and hand hygiene items, as well as the provision of a supportive, safe working environment to improve the safety of working conditions in health care settings;

• Focus efforts to reach populations that are vulnerable or that are key to the HIV response, including, pregnant women and infants;

• Expand high quality HIV services for children and adolescents in a flexible and sustainable manner;

• Empower communities to combat stigma and discrimination.

Community leaders

• Ensure essential HIV services are maintained in the community;

• Support community health workers, including nurses and midwives, to provide HIV services to everyone in the community;

• Combat stigma and discrimination to ensure that everyone feels safe to access HIV services;

• Reach out to key and vulnerable populations and assist them to access HIV services when needed;

• Ensure that children, pregnant women and infants receive adequate care that incorporates HIV. 

HIV programme managers 

• Support and empower frontline health workers to deliver high quality HIV services to everyone who needs them;

• Recognise the essential contributions of nurses and midwives to providing HIV services;

• Ensure adequate training in HIV services for frontline health workers;

• Focus on key and vulnerable populations for delivery of HIV services.

Development partners

• Ensure uninterrupted supply of essential commodities, supplies and HIV services;

• Invest in building the capacity of frontline health workers, including nurses and midwives, to deliver quality HIV services;

• Increase efforts to ensure that frontline health workers are able to protect themselves from infection and illness in the workplace;

• Support people-centred care including Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) and multi-month dispending (MMD) for all populations

Contributed