A PATH TO AWARENESS ON HIV/AIDS
WORLD AIDS DAY 2025
A PATH TO AWARENESS ON HIV/AIDS
Punjab Express Bureau
Faridkot
December 4,2025
Ms. Renu / Ms. Pushpa Rani
Bunn, a former television broadcast journalist from San Francisco, had recommended the date of 1 December that believing it would maximize coverage of World AIDS Day by western news media, sufficiently long following the US elections but before the Christmas holidays.
The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a sexually transmitted infection (STI). HIV can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). One in four people in the United States with HIV is female. In the United States, women are most likely to get HIV from having intercourse with a man.
One in four people living with HIV in the United States is a woman. Women of all ages, races, and ethnicities can get HIV, but some women are more at risk than others.
While talkig about the world AIDS day let us know the theme for World AIDS Day 2025, and the theme is “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response”.
This theme emphasizes the need to overcome funding crises and other challenges that are disrupting progress, and to transform the response by focusing on human rights, community-led services, and innovation.
AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is transmitted through certain bodily fluids from an HIV-positive person, primarily through sexual contact, sharing needles, and from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, or breastfeeding. HIV is not transmitted through casual contact like hugging, kissing, or sharing food and utensils.
How To Detect Whether It Is HIV/AIDS
You cannot rely on symptoms to know if you have HIV. The only way to know for sure is to be tested. Some people develop flu-like symptoms within two to four weeks of exposure, but many people with HIV do not. If you think you have been exposed to HIV, get tested. Testing is the only way to know for sure if you have HIV.
Precautions related to HIV include avoiding sharing personal items like toothbrushes or razors, practicing safe sex with condoms or other prevention methods like PrEP, and using protective barriers like gloves when handling blood or bodily fluids. For people living with HIV, taking prescribed medication to achieve an undetectable viral load makes the virus untransmittable through sex.
Life span
Without treatment, people with AIDS can live for about 1 to 3 years, but with modern antiretroviral therapy (ART), a person with HIV can live a long and healthy life, with a near-normal life expectancy. The prognosis depends on factors like the stage of the infection, the effectiveness of the medication, and overall health, and adherence to treatment is crucial for a good prognosis.
Be kinder
Being kind to people with HIV/AIDS means providing emotional support, treating them with dignity and without judgment, and educating yourself to challenge stigma and discrimination. Your support can help them manage their health and live a full, healthy life, especially with modern treatments.
The theme focuses the impact of recent funding crises and other disruptions on HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services. So, it hinders the progress and put it on risk. That is why, this is the high time to renew commitment to address these challenges.
Alongside, It urges a transformation of the AIDS response through various approaches that prioritize human rights, sustained political leadership, and international cooperation. The basic goal is to address inequalities that drive the epidemic and ensure everyone has access to care.
Globally, 40.8 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2024, with 1.3 million new infections in 2024. In India, an estimated 2.5 million people live with HIV, and the adult prevalence is 0.2%. While global progress has been made, with a significant reduction in new infections and deaths since 2010, disparities remain between regions.
Achieving the 2030 goal
The theme is set against the backdrop of the global goal to end AIDS by 2030 and calls for increased efforts to reach that target.
Ms. Pushpa Rani
Assistant professor UCON Faridkot.
Ms. Renu Sandhu
Nursing Demonstrator UCON Faridkot.