UNAIDS announces nearly 21 million people living with HIV now on treatment
CAPE TOWN/GENEVA, 20 November 2017—Remarkable progress is being made on HIV treatment. Ahead of World AIDS Day, UNAIDS has launched a new report showing that access to treatment has risen significantly. In 2000, just 685 000 people living with HIV had access to antiretroviral therapy. By June 2017, around 20.9 million people had access to the life-saving medicines. Such a dramatic scale-up could not have happened without the courage and determination of people living with HIV demanding and claiming their rights, backed up by steady, strong leadership and financial commitment.
Read full press release | Download the press release (PDF)
In the small mountainous country of Lesotho, 1 in 4 people live with HIV. Community healthworkers like Mamokhoplo Motale are bringing about change. #myrighttohealth
The right to health is supported by, and linked to, a wider set of rights. Ending AIDS as a public health threat can only happen if these rights are placed at the centre of global health, so that quality health care is available and accessible for everyone and leaves no one behind. Community healthworkers are bringing about change in Lesotho. #myrighttohealth
"Fourteen years on the streets would be worth nothing if I did not do this job," said Step UP peer educator Andries Swarts. Ending AIDS as a public health threat can only happen if rights are placed at the centre of global health, so that quality health care is available and accessible for everyone and leaves no one behind. #myrighttohealth
