In 2024, just under 112,000 people received HIV care across England, Scotland, and Wales. Yes, we know that doesn’t compare with people infected at the height of the AIDS pandemic, and the reason we are sharing this news now is that we are still shocked at the number of people who think IT IS ALL OVER. It is not by a long shot.  

Yes, compared to the mid-1980s, this is no longer a pandemic, and since 1996 and the introduction of protease inhibitors, HIV has no longer been a death sentence. Our own community was hit the hardest, and one of the positive effects of this nightmare was how we came together and both formed and supported our own organizations such as Terrence Higgins Trust and Cruisaid etc 

It’s the reason we want to throw our weight behind supporting London’s RED RUN.  It’s an annual 5k/10k charity fun run and walk leading up to World AIDS Day, which, since its start in 2009, the event has become the UK’s largest World AIDS Day fundraiser and has raised over £1.5m for 30 HIV charities and projects across the UK.  Stigma persists and inequalities continue to create barriers in accessing HIV care and prevention.  The RED RUN is more important than ever.

Just the other side of the Atlantic, the Orange Man has been ruthless and callously proposed and enacted steep funding reductions for domestic and global HIV/AIDS programs, targeting agencies like the CDC and international initiatives like [PEPFAR]. These budget maneuvers have sparked widespread concern among public health officials regarding potential increases in future infection rates.  We need to take heed that its not impossible that other (right-wing) administrations could adopt these extreme measures regardless of the potential loss of lives