2025 marks just five years until the global goal of ending all new HIV transmissions by 2030, yet stigma remains the greatest obstacle to achieving this. Stigmatising behaviour and discrimination around HIV can include physical abuse, denial of health services, denial or loss of jobs, denial of housing, and arrest where HIV transmission or specific behaviours are criminalised.

Our theme for Zero HIV Stigma Day “Awareness to Action: Our Path to 2030” is our call to action for governments, international organisations, social justice advocates – everyone – to transform awareness into meaningful, equitable action that eliminates stigma, improves the quality of life for people living with HIV, and accelerates efforts to end all onward HIV transmissions by 2030.

By removing HIV stigma, we create opportunities for equitable healthcare, stronger communities, and the realisation of human rights for all.

ABOUT ZERO HIV STIGMA DAY

 

Since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic over four decades ago, 75.5 million people have acquired HIV and 32.7 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses. Despite transformative biomedical advances, we are far from eradicating the virus and achieving zero new infections and zero AIDS-related deaths globally.  We believe many of these ongoing transmissions and deaths could be prevented if it were not for the stigma that exists within the global community toward HIV.

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During spring 2020, at the height of COVID, the Naz team discussed the need to challenge HIV stigma globally and what the power of a global campaign to end HIV stigma could look like. Naz’s Medical Director Vanessa Apea conceived of the idea for Zero HIV Stigma Day, a global day of awareness focused on HIV stigma. Since the campaign began in 2023, we've reached over a million people globally with the number climbing higher each day.

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HIV STIGMA is a social justice, human rights, and public health issue. Zero HIV Stigma Day is a global movement uniting people and communities to raise awareness of HIV and take action to eliminate HIV stigma in all its forms. July 21 is a day of action featuring communities living with and affected by HIV, activists, clinicians, influencers, and civil society organizations.

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The day July 21 was chosen in honor of the late South African AIDS activist Prudence Nobantu Mabele (July 21, 1971-July 10, 2017). Prudence set a precedent to encourage other women living with HIV to discuss their status with loved ones, to live without shame, to seek treatment, and to lead happy and fulfilled lives. Zero HIV Stigma Day honours her work and tireless activism to end HIV stigma.​​​​​

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