Blog

This year marks the 18th International Youth Day (12 August), first observed by the United Nations General Assembly in recognition of young people as agents of change. In this Then and now series, six activists across generations share how living with HIV shaped their personal journeys toward activism. Three of them began their work in the earliest days of the epidemic, and they speak about the legacy of their advocacy. Three, new to HIV activism, share what drew them to the movement. Each perso...

By Aurelio Orta Resendiz, 2017 IAS Youth Ambassador and Generation Now Co-Chair Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and HIV prevention and care have changed dramatically over the past 45 years. Technological advances in both fields have given women modern birth control methods, including safe abortion services, and ushered in an era of HIV prevention and treatment so effective that a daily pill can provide protection or ensure a long and healthy life. But despite progress, these dual landscap...

By Andrew Guise, Social Science Lecturer at King’s College London, and Charles Witzel, Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine New research has explored the acceptability of remote testing for hepatitis C among people who use drugs. Just as for HIV testing, remote testing for hepatitis C must go hand in hand with access to treatment. Hepatitis C virus (HCV), like HIV, disproportionately affects key populations, such as people who use drugs or men who have sex w...

Dasha Matyushina is a Policy Reform Advisor at the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association, which strives for progressive human rights-based drug policy, sustainable funding advocacy and quality client-centred harm reduction services for people who use drugs. With a background in psychology and public health, her field of expertise includes HIV and drug policy advocacy and health systems decision making, management of community-based programmes and strengthening of community systems in Eastern Europ...

By Shaun Mellors, Director: Knowledge & Influence, International HIV/AIDS Alliance and IAS Member On 2 May 1983, the first AIDS candlelight memorials were held in San Francisco and New York simultaneously, under the theme of “Fighting for our Lives”. It was the first sign that the response to HIV would be much more than a medical issue; it would be an issue that brought together communities to shed tears, to commemorate, to support each other, to react and challenge the seemingly unforgiv...

By Linda-Gail Bekker, International AIDS Society President Vaccines are modern miracles. Every year, vaccines save up to 3 million lives worldwide [1]. The measles vaccine alone has saved more than 20 million lives since 2000 [2]. Smallpox, a disease that as recently as the 1960s was associated with a death toll comparable to HIV, has now been eradicated as a result of vaccination efforts. Immunization programmes are on the cusp of eliminating polio, and expanded use of the hepatitis B vaccine...

Jeffry Acaba is a programme officer for APCASO, an Asia-Pacific civil society network of community-based and non-governmental organizations on HIV, health, and social justice, with a focus on advocacy and community capacity development. He serves as a youth focal point for the organization, coordinating APCASO’s work with the Inter-Agency Task Team (IATT) on Young Key Populations, a coalition of UN, civil society, and partners working on HIV and young key populations in Asia and the Pacific. He...