Daniel J
Vagina MuseumToday is the 34th #WorldAIDSDay. Since 1988, 1st December has been designated to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS. A lot has changed in the years since it was first marked, but there is still some way to go. Here is a brief history of the situation in 1988, compared to today.
In 1988, the fact that World AIDS Day was designated was the result of tireless work and activism. The response from governments had been slow, largely due to stigma surrounding communities where it was most present: men who have sex with men, trans people, sex workers and intravenous drug users.
Communities had taken it upon themselves to organise a response to the crisis. In 1982, Larry Kramer set up Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York City. That same year, the booklet How To Have Sex In An Epidemic, advocating for safer sex practices and explaining how to have safer sex, was published.
The name human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was given to the virus in 1986. Scientific breakthroughs were finally starting to happen. A test for the virus had become available. The first drug, AZT, became available in 1987.
Activism, too, was becoming increasingly more visible. Some projects memorialised the lives lost, such as the AIDS Memorial Quilt (more on the Quilt in the link). Others took direct action. The group ACT UP formed in 1987, staging actions and civil disobedience and advocating for the community and awareness. https://masto.ai/@vagina_museum/109438010696869038
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Attached: 1 image OLD THREAD REPOST #WorldAIDSDay On October 11th 1987, the AIDS Memorial Quilt was first displayed. The Quilt is a community project to memorialise those lost to the epidemic. When it was first displayed, the Quilt had 1,920 panels dedicated to 1,920 lives lost. Image courtesy of Names Project Foundation
At the time of the first World AIDS Day though, HIV/AIDS was almost always fatal eventually. Awareness was low, and often associated with huge stigma.
Now, huge changes have happened. HIV/AIDS is not just preventable, but it is possible to eradicate. Community testing and greater awareness around safer sex practices have made huge headway. Effective drugs are available. Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) drugs are effective in suppressing HIV. Not only do they protect people who are HIV positive, they prevent transmission. If the viral load is undetectable, it is untransmissible.
Further drug interventions such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) give at-risk groups an extra line of defence from infections. Development work is being undertaken on vaccines to prevent infection.
Deaths from HIV/AIDS are falling every year. People acquiring the virus is also falling. Nevertheless, in 2021, about 650,000 people died from HIV/AIDS, and 1.5 million people acquired HIV. There are huge inequalities in who is acquiring HIV/AIDS and who is dying from it. People within the Global South are less likely to be able to access the breakthrough medicines, community testing and other initiatives to prevent transmission and treat it.
The theme of this year's #WorldAIDSDay is "Equalise". The world has the tools to eradicate this disease. In order to do this, access to care and protection needs to be equally distributed.