The Urgency Still Remains for HIV: AHF UK Marks World AIDS Day

Original from: businesswire

In honour of World AIDS Day 2025, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) UK will host two community events to emphasize that the work to end HIV/AIDS is not over. The first commemoration will take place on Monday, 1 December, at the Croydon BME Forum Wellness Centre in the Whitgift Shopping Centre (1st Floor, CR0 1LP), followed by a second gathering on Tuesday, 2 December, at Food for the Soul at St Cuthbert’s Centre in London. With 1.3 million new HIV infections still occurring globally each year, these events will promote awareness, prevention, testing, and care while showing solidarity with those impacted by HIV/AIDS in the community and beyond. World AIDS Day is observed annually on 1 December.

Despite decades of progress in the fight against HIV, around 40 million people worldwide are living with the virus, with women and girls representing more than half of those affected. Stigma and discrimination continue to prevent many individuals from accessing essential care, while key populations face significant barriers to treatment. These World AIDS Day events will highlight these ongoing challenges and reinforce the importance of keeping HIV/AIDS at the forefront of national and global public health efforts.

In Croydon, the event will feature a speaker with lived experience, information tables from local health and well-being partners, on-site health checks, HIV and STI testing, free condoms and goody bags, and food and refreshments. On 2 December, the London event will offer health education sessions, a raffle, HIV and STI testing, free condoms and goody bags, plus food and refreshments for attendees.

“Europe is at risk of losing ground in the fight against HIV,” said Daniel Reijer, AHF Europe Bureau Chief. “While Western Europe has made steady progress, in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the epidemic continues to grow. Europe is now the only region that has fallen behind globally—while HIV-related deaths have halved worldwide since 2010, they have risen by a third across the region. We need renewed political will and stronger health systems that prioritize testing, prevention, and care. This World AIDS Day, let’s reignite the urgency to end HIV everywhere in Europe—because HIV/AIDS is not over until that becomes the reality.”

“We urgently need to address the inequalities that limit minority groups’ access to HIV services in the UK, which means ensuring easy access to testing, treatment, PrEP, and support, while tackling HIV stigma—the biggest barrier to care,” said Beatrice Nabulya, Testing & Volunteer Lead, AHF UK. “Stronger community engagement and holistic health checks can reduce stigma and increase uptake of HIV and STI services. By normalising sexual health conversations, we move closer to equitable access for all and to ending new HIV infections.”

Additionally, pharma greed continues to block progress for the global HIV/AIDS response. Even with groundbreaking prevention tools like long-acting injectables, high prices keep them out of reach for the people and countries that need them most. True progress demands that pharmaceutical companies put people before profits because innovation doesn’t matter if it isn’t accessible to all.

World AIDS Day serves as a vital platform for HIV/AIDS advocates to acknowledge the progress made, remember those we have lost to AIDS-related illnesses and those who carry on the fight, and call on governments worldwide to commit the necessary resources and political support to end HIV/AIDS. On this World AIDS Day, we’re reminded: It’s Not Over.

Source: The Urgency Still Remains for HIV: AHF UK Marks World AIDS Day