Recognizing World AIDS Day and Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week

World AIDS Day (WAD) is an internationally recognized health event to acknowledge and support people living with HIV/AIDS and honour those who have passed. It is celebrated annually on December 1st. This year’s World AIDS Day theme is Take the Rights Path.

From December 1 to December 7 is Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week (IAAW); it is a time to raise awareness, share knowledge, and reduce fear and stigma. Indigenous Peoples in Canada are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS due to many underlying social determinants rooted in colonization, racism, and socio-economic disparities.

The World AIDS Day 2024 theme, Take the Rights Path, highlights the substantial progress that has been made in the HIV response is directly linked to progress in protecting human rights. The path that ends AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 is a rights path. Upholding the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights, and fostering inclusion of all communities, are essential for ending AIDS, for ensuring sustainable development and for human security. There is an urgent need to enact laws and approaches which uphold the rights of every person.

This World AIDS Day is more than a celebration of the achievements of communities; it is a call to action to enable and support communities in their leadership roles.

The Regional Municipality of York recognizes World AIDS Day and Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week in Canada. 

Visit york.ca/SexualHealth to learn more about York Region’s sexual health services, including anonymous HIV testing and Rapid HIV testing.