Thread by @WHO

It's #WorldAIDSDay.
There were approximately 37.9 million people living with #HIV at the end of 2018.
🔹79% had been diagnosed
🔹62% were receiving treatment
🔹53% had achieved suppression of the HIV virus to the point at which they were at low risk of infecting others.

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO #DYK: HIV can now be diagnosed through rapid tests that can provide same-day results.
But no single test can provide a full #HIV diagnosis: a confirmatory test is required, conducted by a qualified and validated health worker at a community centre or clinic.

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO There is no cure for #HIV infection.
However, effective antiretroviral drugs can control the virus and help prevent onward transmission to other people.
bit.ly/2UUxEIf

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO Children with #HIV urgently need better tests, treatment and care
🔴Over 400 children are born with HIV every day
🔴1 in 2 receive timely testing and treatment
🔴2 in 3 receive sub-optimal medicines
🔴2 in 3 don’t achieve viral suppression (low risk of infecting others).

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO Every hour, nearly 30 adolescents 👧👦 get infected with #HIV.
Adolescent girls👧 account for 3 in 4 new infections in this age group.
Schools, youth services and health clinics need to be adolescent health friendly.
bit.ly/2QR1Zsr

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO There is still a need to address global gaps in #HIV services, in 2018:
🔴770,000 people died from HIV-related causes
🔴1.7 million people were newly infected
#WorldAIDSDay

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO Key groups including:
♂️ who have sex with ♂️
people who 💉 drugs
people in prisons & other closed settings
sex workers & their clients
transgender people
accounted for around 95% of new #HIV infections in eastern European, central Asian, Middle Eastern & north African regions.

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO WHO recommends countries train & mobilize community health workers, including people living with #HIV, to provide decentralized and differentiated HIV treatment and care.
Evidence shows more people continue with HIV treatment when peer educators counsel and support each other.

@WHOWPRO @WHOSEARO @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHO_Europe @WHOEMRO This #WorldAIDSDay we celebrate the central role of communities – as highlighted in the first-ever @UN declaration on Universal Health Coverage with its central focus on primary health care, tailored for and built through empowered & engaged communities.
bit.ly/2QR1Zsr

“Many women living with #HIV suffer silently. Many of them were denied a say in their own life choices and became sterilized by doctors. We need to keep on fighting.”
💬Baby Rivona Nasution, 52, #Indonesia, co-founder of Indonesian Positive Women Network bit.ly/2DyhFcl

“Most of the people who test positive for #HIV are shocked by their status, but they are better prepared for the outcome when they have received pre-counselling”
💬Elena Revenco, 50, #Moldova🇲🇩, medical assistant/nurse

More: bit.ly/35W2jdX

#WorldAIDSDay

@WHO_Europe @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO “Because of criminalization of our gender or behaviour, many of us are too scared to go to #HIV clinics. Unfortunately, this only helps HIV grow stronger and spread faster"
💬Erika Castellanos, #Belize🇧🇿, trans activist

More: bit.ly/34Gh44f

#WorldAIDSDay

@WHO_Europe @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO “In my country, at least 120,000 people are engaged in sex work, and the #HIV rate among us [the sex worker community] is much higher than the rate among the general population"
💬Phelister Abdalla, 33, #Kenya🇰🇪, sex work and HIV activist bit.ly/2P5HtC3

#WorldAIDSDay

@WHO_Europe @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO “I work with the LGBTQ community as a peer counsellor & #HIV test provider. The community still has little awareness of HIV, although we are working on it every day”
💬Nazar Tokar, 20, Ukraine🇺🇦, peer-counsellor at @AIDSHealthcare Checkpoint bit.ly/2r4Rfw3

#WorldAIDSDay

@WHO_Europe @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO @AIDSHealthcare @WHOUkraine “We have helped over 200 women & children stay at our shelters, and access HIV testing & treatment. We also run a farming centre to help women access microloans. When we are together, we are stronger than #HIV”
💬Priscilla Ingbian Simon, 39, #Nigeria🇳🇬
bit.ly/2PflRTZ

@WHO_Europe @pahowho @WHOAFRO @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO @AIDSHealthcare @WHOUkraine “I’m affected by #HIV. Then I also had my brother getting diagnosed with both HIV and TB in 2016. My sisters and I support our brother very much and remind him to adhere to his treatment well”
💬Felipe Francisco Luis, 24, #Mozambique🇲🇿, MSF peer educator bit.ly/2OBuBVd

“We raise awareness in communities so that women living with #HIV are accepted in society just like others”
💬Sita Banjade Shahi, 30, #Nepal🇳🇵founder of Srijansil Mahil Samuha, a community organization

More: bit.ly/2Y4cYAk

#WorldAIDSDay

“Back in 2008, my best friend revealed his #HIV status. From that moment on, I started to seek out information and focus my interest on the issue. I run testJKT, a sex-positive online campaign.”
💬Nicky Suwandi, 34, #Indonesia🇮🇩, testJKT Project Manager bit.ly/2P1ABpl

“I wanted to break the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS... to encourage #HIV testing, to create demand for treatment, and to break the silence around HIV”
💬Tendayi Westerhof, 53, #Zimbabwe🇿🇼, Country Coordinator, Pan African Positive Women’s Coalition bit.ly/34F5Pco

“I am proud @YQA_Mauritius is the only LGBT youth organization in the country. Every year, we deliver #HIV testing to around 250 people & reach over 1000 people with HIV prevention services & information”
💬Imesh Fallee, Mauritius🇲🇺, Student & activist bit.ly/37X3hs0

“I was born with HIV. We should remind ourselves that #HIV is not over. We need to defeat it together, leaving no one behind, particularly girls, women and young people.”
💬Consolata Achieng Opiyo, 28, #Kenya🇰🇪, youth and @Yplus_network HIV advocate bit.ly/34FfUGe

@Yplus_network @WHOAFRO @pahowho @WHO_Europe @WHOSEARO @WHOEMRO @WHOWPRO The human immunodeficiency virus, aka #HIV, targets the immune system and weakens people's defence systems against infections and some types of cancer.
As the virus destroys and impairs the function of immune cells, infected individuals gradually become immunodeficient