Communities Urged to Join the Fight against HIV/AIDS
- By solomon2day
- On 02/12/2019
- In News
Communities have been called upon to take active part in the fith against the Human Immunodeficiency Virus(HIV).
This call was made in a Press Statement by the The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director, Winnie Byanyima.
“I believe in communities. Communities make change happen. Communities are the best hope for ending AIDS because communities have fought against HIV right from the beginning! As the epidemic raged through our countries, cities, villages, women held communities together and bore the higher burden of care for their families. For far too long we have taken their volunteerism for granted.''
“Twenty-five years ago, a Burundi woman called Jeanne was the first person to disclose that she was living with HIV. Today, Jeanne is holding leaders accountable and fighting for the right to health care. Pioneers like Jeanne have been joined by younger leaders, like 20-year-old Yana, who was born with HIV in Ukraine. Yana founded Teenergizer, a group bringing together young people across Eastern Europe. In a world where power resides with old men, she wants her peers to have a voice and a choice,” Byanyima stated.