WORLD AIDS DAY 2018

"Know your status"

1 December 2018

Know your status

On 1 December 2018, the world community will come together to mark the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is “Know your status”. HIV testing empowers people to make choices about HIV prevention and specifically how to protect themselves and their loved ones.

Today four in five people living with HIV in the African Region know their status. In addition, more than three in five people are accessing life-saving antiretroviral therapy.

This 1 December is also an occasion to celebrate the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day – a pioneering global health campaign first initiated by WHO in 1988. The WHO Regional Office for Africa is marking that milestone with stories of people who have been living with HIV for a very long time. Many thought they would never live to see today.

Message from the Regional Director

Biography Dr Matshidiso Moeti Today, the world community will come together to mark the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day. This year’s theme is “Know your status”. The only way to determine a person’s HIV status is for them to have an HIV test. Read the full message

- Read the message in french

- Read the message in portuguese

Looking back on major milestones in the AIDS response

Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa has been on the frontlines of the AIDS response for many years. She talks about how the response has evolved over the years.