Message from HIV Aids Support Organisation (Haso) on the occasion of World Aids Day - December 1 |01 December 2022

‘Address inequalities that are drivers of the HIV/Aids pandemic’

“The theme chosen by UNAids to commemorate World Aids Day this year is ‘Equalise’. It is a call to take urgent actions against economic, social, cultural and legal inequalities which the HIV/Aids pandemic rides on.

“Progress in science, namely in terms of medicines that have greatly reduced the morbidity of HIV, has failed to impact on the pandemics because inequalities have stood in the way of HIV response by denying or reducing access to basic services, from testing to treatment.

 “The slogan ‘Equalise’ speaks to the need to address inequalities that are drivers of the HIV/Aids pandemic.

 “The fact that we are only eight years out of 2030, the deadline for the implementation of all the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) contained in Agenda 2030, renders the call for action even more urgent. SDG 3, which is to ‘ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages’, clearly states ‘by 2030, end the pandemics of Aids’ among others.

“By attacking inequalities, we will also be contributing in implementation of the SDGs.  

As a small island developing state, Seychelles prides itself as being a pathfinder in various fields. In this spirit, we should see in the theme for World Aids Day 2022, an opportunity to emerge as a model nation in the fight against HIV/Aids. Let us ‘Equalise’ to give teeth to HIV/Aids response.

Press release from Haso