To End Aids, We Must Reclaim Our Unyielding Pursuit of Equity

Twenty years ago, AIDS was "threatening to disintegrate the very fabric of society,"ience Gawanas writes in a blog post for the Global Fund.

"It was to stop the possibility of losing a generation of people in many low- and middle-income countries as well as those who were stigmatized and discriminated against because they were considered 'different.' I am proud to say that we have since come a long way....

But more than 1.3 million people were infected with the virus in 2022."

Those infected range from men who have sex with men, trans women, and sex workers to people who inject drugs and transgender women, Gawanas writes.

"Their voices are increasingly silenced, and they are under constant threat of violence and abuse, as discriminatory legislation directed against LGBTI people is surging around the world," she writes.

The AIDS-related mortality rate in Africa is lower than in the rest of the world, but young people ages 15 to 24 are the ones who account for 16% of all new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa in 2022, according to the Global Fund's latest report.

"For us to accelerate progress once again, we must reclaim that strong spirit of equity that animated us two decades ago," Gawanas writes in the blog post, which

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