Welcome to the Tweed Trends podcast. Hey, Evette, what's trending today? Hey, I'm Evette, hey girl! And you are tuned in to Tweed Trends.
It's the quickest way to find out what's trending today. World AIDS Day 2022. Let's get started. December 1st is known as World AIDS Day, and the theme this year is equalize.
Well, what does that mean? Well, global leaders and citizens are being asked to boldly recognize and address the inequalities which are holding back progress and ending AIDS. Equalize means to equalize access to essential HIV services, particularly for children and key populations. But we can't forget not just them, but also the partners of those people.
So that encompasses just about everyone. You know, everybody always wants to recognize the men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who use drugs, sex workers, and people in prisons. But we also have to remember that there are people that love these people. There are people that are in relationships with these people.
And so they may not even realize it. They may not know that they're at risk. So what do we need to do? We need to make sure that everyone has equal access to testing, to knowing what their status is.
And then once you know whether you have it or you don't, there's still education that needs to come from that. Because let's say you think you might be in one of those categories of people who might be at higher risk. You get tested and your test comes back negative. Well, that doesn't mean you go skipping down the street, you know, and go out of the party.
That means you still get the information so that now you know, okay, you don't have it. And here's how you prevent yourself from getting it. On the other hand, if you're a person who gets tested and finds out that you are positive for HIV, now you need to know what are your options? What can you do?
How can you get yourself to a point where it's undetectable in your system? Speaking of undetectable, Magic Johnson has remained HIV undetectable for nearly 30 years. Back in November of 91 is when he publicly announced his HIV diagnosis. And at that point, he was devastated and so was the world of sports and everything else.
Everybody's like, oh, great. There goes another one. So from there, he ended up having to retire because one, there wasn't a whole lot of understanding about what HIV and AIDS was. So there were people in the league that were kind of like, I don't know that I want to play with this guy because what if I catch HIV from him?
So he retires, but what else does he do? He goes and learns as much as he can about HIV and AIDS. He made sure that he was open-minded, asked lots of questions, and got as much information from as many different people in places that he could. He armed himself with knowledge and from there, he was able to make great decisions.
So by knowing what his status was, he was able to then get on the proper meds to get his system in a place where this HIV status, although he can't get rid of it, it's to a point where it's undetectable, which means it's not advancing to AIDS. And that's where we all need to be. We all need to be open-minded enough to say, you know what, I'm going to get tested. I'm going to know what my status is so that if I don't have it, let me find out how to stay in this lane.
If I do have it, hopefully I'm finding out early enough where I can now do something to maintain the HIV portion and not let it get to AIDS. Now, some people may not realize this. He wasn't sick and felt like he needed to go to the doctor to find out what was going on. He didn't think that his behavior was to a point where maybe I should get tested, because I've been doing a lot of stuff here.
He found out about his diagnosis after a routine physical ahead of the 9192 NBA season. So that right there is a thumbs up for go get tested regardless. If you're feeling great, good. You feel good enough to go to the doctor and get tested.
Why not? Because once you know, then you know how to move on from there. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, everybody was talking about HIV and AIDS. And because of that, it was on the forefront of everybody's mind and so research and, you know, information, data, all of that was right there in your face.
But over the last few years, progress towards HIV goals have stalled and resources have shrunk. And because of that, millions of lives are at risk. So what do we need to do? We need to renew our commitment to end HIV.
Getting tested for HIV is the only way to find out if you are infected. And just because it doesn't seem visible to you, it's still a public health threat. So don't be fooled because everybody's talking about COVID and MPOCs in 2022. HIV is still out there and you still have to be diligent and make sure you know what your status is.
The next thing we need to focus on equality. All people living with HIV are eligible for and should have access to HIV treatment. Everyone. We need to have a zero tolerance policy to stigma and discrimination in all health services.
Everyone everywhere has equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care. That's what we have to ensure. Because without that, we're not going to be able to put HIV and AIDS in the rear view mirror. It's always going to be there.
So let's go with a little bit of the stats. As of 2021, 38.4 million people live with HIV. Get this part. 1.7 million of these people are children.
We've got to do it for the children. We've got to do it for the children. And then when you think about it, only 52% of children living with HIV are on life-saving treatment. We have to do what we can to ensure that everybody has access or we won't be able to get rid of this thing.
Lastly, I'm going to leave you with this. Globally, 70% of new HIV infections are among people who are marginalized and often criminalized. Thanks for joining me today. Bottom line is we can only end AIDS and HIV by scaling up HIV services and removing structural barriers, stigma, and the discrimination that is rearing its ugly head in these various communities around the globe.
Do what you can on your own level. Get tested. Know your status. And don't be afraid to have those tough conversations.
Don't think that because somebody looks okay that they are okay. Make it a thing to go with your partner and get tested. Simple as that. If each person does their part, we can get rid of HIV and AIDS.
But we have to do our part.