Today, we commemorate World AIDS Day in support of people living with and affected by HIV, and to remember and celebrate those who lost their lives to AIDS. The global key population-led networks* – Global Action for Trans Equality (GATE); Global Network of People Living with HIV (GNP+); Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP); Global Network of Young People Living with HIV (Y+ Network); Innovative Response Globally for Trans Women and HIV (IRGT); International Network of People Who Use Drugs (INPUD); International Community of Women Living with HIV (ICW); MPact Global Action for Gay Men’s Health and Rights (MPact) – issue this joint statement in solidarity with this year’s World AIDS Day theme: “Global solidarity, shared responsibility.”
This year, we commemorate World AIDS Day in the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global health crisis that has caused immense human misery and economic insecurity. Despite the devastation caused by the ongoing pandemic, we call on global policymakers and donors to not lose sight of their goal to end the HIV epidemic, which is now entering its fifth decade. The epidemic continues to disproportionately devastate our communities.
The HIV response is seriously off-track, particularly in curbing new HIV infections among key populations – gay and bisexual men, people who use drugs, sex workers, and transgender people – who have carried an inordinate burden since the beginning of the epidemic and who have been systematically denied rights, equity, and justice in the global HIV response.
Recent data indicates that, while there has been some progress in reducing new infections among some populations, 62% of new HIV transmissions in 2019 occurred among key populations and their sexual partners. Clearly, key populations continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV. In comparison to the general population, the likelihood of acquiring HIV is greater for sex workers (x30), people who use drugs (x29), gay men (x26), and transgender people (x13).