Today, I’m wearing my red ribbon with pride for World AIDS Day. In the last thirty years, since the first cases of HIV were discovered, we’ve travelled a huge distance in terms of research and treatment. Not least because advances in medication now mean that, if diagnosed and treated early enough, people living with HIV can live just as long as people without it.
In the UK we’re committed to tackling the global impacts of this disease – the ambition hasto be a future with zero new infections and AIDs-related deaths. That’s why last year weinvested ￡1 billion in the Global Fund to fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. This money is helpinghundreds of thousands of people around the world get lifesaving treatment.
But, of course, there is still a long way to go. And while the science has moved on, too manypeople’s attitudes have not. One in three people living with HIV say that they haveexperienced discrimination, because of their condition. That’s simply unacceptable. So, thisWorld Aids Day, please visit HIVaware.org.uk to get the facts about HIV and tell the people youknow.
It’s critical that people have the right information, and that the next generation – throughgood sex education – understand the facts. Together, by wearing your red ribbon and tweetingyour support using the hashtag Put A Ribbon On It, we can help break down the stigma thatstill surrounds this condition and show that there’s just no place for this kind of discriminationin modern Britain. So please get involved.
Today, let’s all do our bit.