Zero Discrimination Day 2023: Date, Theme, And Why It Is Observed

Add as a preferred source on Google

World Health Organisation (WHO) marks 1 March 2023 as Zero Discrimination Day to raise awareness and highlight the right of all people to live healthy, full and productive lives with dignity regardless of their HIV, viral hepatitis or sexually transmitted infections status.

Globally, 38.4 million [33.9-43.8 million] people were living with HIV at the end of 2021. An estimated 0.7% [0.6-0.8%] of adults aged 15-49 years worldwide. About 650000, people died due to HIV-related illnesses in the same year. In 2018, 19 low and middle-income countries reported a total of 190 million people tested and received results.

According to CDC, it is the fear of HIV where the HIV stigma is rooted and the ideas about HIV images that appeared in the early 1980s. Still, people lack awareness when it comes to the transmission of HIV.

Be it dated beliefs, lack of information or awareness, many people think that HIV is a disease that is only restricted to certain groups. Therefore, it creates negative value judgements for people who have contracted HIV.

The inception of Zero Discrimination Day was targeted at HIV-related issues and initially, it highlighted how to disperse information related to HIV, raise awareness and promote the rights of people affected and living with HIV. However, in recent years, the idea has shifted towards ending all kinds of discrimination that hampers the quality of life, health and overall well-being.

Director of WHO's Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes, Dr Meg Doherty said, 'On this year's Zero Discrimination, let us remember all people living with HIV and health care workers who are working under the most difficult circumstances to deliver the highest quality of care for all.'

Zero Discrimination Day 2023: Date, Theme

Every year, 1 March is observed as Zero Discrimination Day and this year, the theme is "Save lives: Decriminalise". The theme chosen by UNAIDS aims to highlight how the decriminalisation of key populations and people living with HIV saves lives and helps advance the end of the AIDS pandemic, as mentioned on the UN.org website.

It is essential that stigma and discrimination related to HIV Aids are addressed in healthcare settings. The list of issues is huge and it can include sex workers, people who use drugs, transgender people, men who have sex with men, and people in prison. These problems are necessary to be dealt with to end epidemics of HIV, viral hepatitis and STIs (sexually transmitted diseases). If all the health care services and staff or people involved with it have a compassionate and non-judgmental approach, then equality in this field will become a reality.

In addition to working to prevent the spread of HIV infection, governments can help ease the varied impacts of HIV/AIDS by prohibiting discrimination against HIV-infected people in healthcare settings and in the workforce, and by strengthening anti-poverty policies, mentions a study on 'Coping with the impacts of AIDS on NCBI.

Further, criminal laws that specifically target people living with HIV do nothing but violate people's human rights and promote the stigma that people face. This then becomes a barrier to the health and support services that the affected people need to protect their overall health.