DECEMBER 1, 2021 - World AIDS Day

Eliminate inequality. End AIDS. Stop pandemics.

On this World AIDS Day, UNAIDS highlights the urgent need to eliminate inequality - the driving force behind the AIDS epidemic and other pandemics around the world.

Without decisive action to combat inequality, the world faces failure to meet the goals adopted to defeat AIDS by 2030, the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic and the aggravation of the social and economic crisis.

Forty years have passed since the first cases of AIDS were registered, HIV is still a global threat. We are lagging behind the implementation of joint commitments to eradicate AIDS by 2030, and it is not a lack of knowledge or funds, but structural inequality that prevents the effective use of proven solutions for HIV prevention and treatment.

If we want to end AIDS by 2030, economic, social, cultural and legal inequalities need to be eliminated as quickly as possible.

Although there is an opinion that the crisis is not the best time to solve the problems of social inequality, it is obvious that it will not be possible to overcome the crisis without it.

The eradication of inequality is a long-term global commitment, the relevance of which is increasing. In 2015, all countries committed themselves to reducing inequality at the national and international levels in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Global AIDS Strategy 2021-2026: Eliminate Inequality, End AIDS and the Political Declaration on AIDS adopted at the United Nations High-level Meeting on AIDS 2021, pay special attention to the problem of inequality.

Eliminating inequality will help not only put an end to the AIDS epidemic, but also protect the rights of key population groups, people living with HIV, increase the effectiveness of the fight against COVID-19 and other pandemics, ensure economic recovery and maintain its stability. In addition, the eradication of inequality will save millions of people and improve the life of society as a whole.

In order to overcome inequality, major changes will be required. We need political, economic and social changes that will protect the rights of every person and meet the needs of those groups of the population who have found themselves in difficult living conditions and have been marginalized.

We know how to defeat AIDS, we know what inequality is that hinders progress, and we know how to deal with it. But implementing policies to eliminate inequality requires courage from leaders.

Now governments must move from words to deeds. It is necessary to provide conditions for inclusive socio-economic development. To abandon discriminatory laws, regulations and policies in order to provide everyone with the same opportunities and eliminate inequality. It is time for Governments to deliver on their promises. They have to act right now and answer to us.

On this World AIDS Day, let's remind our Governments that global inequality affects all of us, regardless of who we are and where we come from. On this World AIDS Day, let us demand action to eliminate inequality, end AIDS and all other pandemics caused by inequality.

On this World AIDS Day, we must remind ourselves that global inequality affects all of us, regardless of who we are and where we live. On this World AIDS Day, we demand action to eliminate inequality and eradicate AIDS, as well as all other pandemics that spread because of inequality.