Despite advancements in HIV treatment, years of fear, bigotry, and ignorance have created a lasting stigma. Stigma that limits education, slows prevention efforts, and spreads the virus.

To address these inequities, we’re making a bold claim; Change the name of HIV.

Read our open letter below to learn more:

An open letter to Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization

Dear Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,

Infection with HIV is preventable, treatable, and, with proper medication, untransmittable. 

Yet in 2021, 1.5 million people became newly infected with HIV. Around the world, 38.4 million people live with the virus. 1.7 million of them are children younger than 15, half of whom are not receiving lifesaving treatment.

If we have the tools to prevent and treat HIV, why are we so off-course?

Today, HIV is an epidemic of the mind. Its destructive power stems not from a biological virus in people’s bodies but from our own thoughts and attitudes.

HIV has become a stigma. These three letters carry over four decades of shame, prejudice, and false beliefs. For those living with HIV and those at risk of infection, stigma acts as a barrier to knowledge, protection, and health care. A virus is not responsible for this. We all are.

A new name will help the world see HIV as it is today: a global challenge that science and society can overcome. 

Let’s change the name. Let’s end the stigma. Forever.  

Yours, 

Youth Against AIDS 

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and learn more about our campaign at UpdateHIV.com