To commemorate the World AIDS Day and its 2017 slogan “My health, my right,” the Taiwan Centers of Disease Control (Taiwan CDC) is launching activities to reduce HIV stigma and discrimination in order to ensure health equalities. On December 1, 2017, Taiwan CDC hosted the “Believe in Love. Our Hearts Are Here. ” event and announced the addition of 4 new designated HIV/AIDS hospitals and an increase in the number of designated pharmacies from 4 to 17 across 8 counties and cities, which will offer long-term AIDS survivors regular medication and counseling services. Although the implementation of the HIV care continuum in the nation is becoming widespread, the treatment cascade is at the moment adopted mostly at large-scale hospitals. To evaluate the feasibility of the HIV care continuum, infectious diseases specialists from the designated HIV/AIDS hospitals will be stationed at a community clinic next year, making it Taiwan’s first pilot HIV/AIDS care clinic in the Greater Taipei area and improving patient access to healthcare.

Participants in today’s event included a Legislator who has long been interested in HIV/AIDS prevention, representatives from NGOs and various experts. TV Entertainer Mickey Huang was named an AIDS ambassador and HIV-infected individuals and their families were invited to share their perspectives, including their emotional journey in coping with the disease. At the closing of the event, all the guests were invited to hang a red ribbon on a three-meter-tall Christmas tree and 100 participants got in the formation of a human red ribbon. Aside from displaying their commitment to AIDS prevention, it was also hoped that this event would invoke greater compassion among the general public toward people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA).

According to the statistics compiled by Taiwan CDC, as of the end of October this year, the cumulative number of people infected with HIV reached 35,581. Among them, 29,625 are still alive. However, an estimated 6-10% of those infected with the virus do not receive continuous treatment, which could result in poor control of the virus, severe complications along with death, and further spread of the virus to other people. Therefore, to echo the UN’s campaign theme of “My health, my right”, Taiwan CDC will continue to promote HIV/AIDS awareness, eliminate social stigma and discrimination against PLHA, and ensure infected individuals receive the respect and care they deserve. At the same time, Taiwan CDC is also committed to creating more PLHA-friendly hospitals, closing any loopholes in the HIV/AIDS prevention network, and moving towards the UNAIDS vision of zero new HIV infections, zero AIDS-related deaths and zero discrimination.