Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem on World AIDS Day (1 December):

The path to a world free of AIDS begins and ends with human rights.

The right to knowledge that is accurate and unbiased. The right to be treated with dignity and respect. The right to feel safe, no matter who you are or who you love.

Fulfilling these fundamental rights has led to remarkable progress against HIV and AIDS. New HIV infections have fallen by 39 per cent, from 2.1 million in 2010 to 1.3 million in 2023. Yet among those still at highest risk of infection, statistics show a clear pattern: Vulnerability to the virus is far greater among people who cannot exercise their rights and choices.

At least half of people with a higher risk of infection still lack access to services for prevention, which directly breaches their right to the highest standard of health. Among this group are many of the world’s most marginalized, including sex workers, transgender people, and men who have sex with men.

Discriminatory laws worsen already crushing burdens from social stigma and gaps in care. People fearing legal or social sanctions that threaten their safety and even their lives cannot freely seek the support they need for HIV prevention, testing, treatment and information – even where services are otherwise available.

Women and girls are twice as likely to acquire HIV and other sexually transmitted infections as men and boys. This should come as no surprise in a world where, according to one study, 44 per cent of women cannot make their own decisions about having sex or seeking healthcare. HIV risks soar where women remain marginalized by poverty and terrorized by gender-based violence. It is also time to work more closely with men to address their own reluctance to seek healthcare, which remains a significant barrier to comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment efforts.

Combined with a pushback on human rights in some countries, all of this helps explain why, despite reductions in infections over the past decade, progress is stagnating, and the world is not on track to reach its target of fewer than 370,000 new cases by 2025.

A path guided by human rights is not only the right thing to do; it is also an effective way to reach everyone living with, at risk of contracting, or affected by HIV. Individuals empowered with accurate information, who know their rights will be protected and feel safe in accessing quality services, can make their own informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health.

That is why UNFPA works in partnership with governments around the world to help health systems integrate HIV prevention, testing and treatment services, particularly for adolescents, women and key populations, into routine sexual and reproductive health care.

This World AIDS Day, let us come together in taking the rights path -- the path to greater human dignity and choice, and to the end of AIDS.