PACHA Calls for End to HIV Stigma Ahead of Zero HIV Stigma Day

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) passed a resolution during its June 28, 2023, meeting calling on all stakeholders to work to end HIV-related stigma. In the resolution, From Vision to Reality: A Call to End HIV Stigma, the Council defines HIV stigma and discusses the harms that it causes. Most importantly, the resolution helps answer the question “What can we do to end HIV stigma?” and issues calls to action to specific stakeholder groups, including individuals, communities, people with HIV, healthcare settings, governments, the private sector, and any/all of us seeking to end the HIV epidemic.

Ahead of Zero HIV Stigma Day on July 21, HIV.gov is sharing PACHA’s resolution, along with several external resources identified by the Council, to inspire our readers to take action.

This week, leading up to the observance, PACHA members will be sharing Zero HIV Stigma messages on HIV.gov’s social media platforms highlighting actions they’re taking to end HIV stigma. Read, like, share, and add your own ideas about how we can each take steps to end HIV stigma. Find HIV.gov on FacebookExit Disclaimer, InstagramExit Disclaimer, and TwitterExit Disclaimer, and find the HHS Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy on LinkedInExit Disclaimer.

The PACHA resolution echoes the National HIV/AIDS Strategy’s calls to reduce HIV-related stigma and discrimination, which it identifies as a key to ending the HIV epidemic in the United States. Stigma reduction is woven throughout the Strategy and its Federal Implementation Plan, reflected in many objectives, strategies, and federal agency actions as well as one of the Strategy’s indicators of progress.   

PACHA’s resolution underscores that we can all do our part to end HIV stigma. Whether it is through individual actions, such as knowing the facts about HIV and educating others, or as part of collective effort to ensure that policies and systems support people living with HIV.

Learn more about Zero HIV Stigma Day, which is observed on July 21 each year, and read more about how you can take action on HIV.gov’s Standing Up to HIV Stigma page. Then, decide what action you will take this year to help end HIV stigma. Together, we can end HIV stigma.