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This is the story of "Kwame" a 5 years old children living with HIV from Ghana.
Kwame was born with HIV and his both parents died due to AIDS when he was a baby. His parents were living in poverty conditions and also faced challenges to access ART and care services in the locality they used to live. After the death of his parents, he remained under custody of his grandmother and his aunt, living in poverty conditions. Since he was a baby, Kwame suffered mistreat by his grandmother and the ther part of the family due to his health condition, and also he was discriminated by his own family. Unfortunately Kwame´s family did not take adequate care of him by the mentioned reasons and when he was almost 3 years-old his health status was delicated due to severe malnutrition and many HIV related symptoms. Kwame´s case was discovered by the team of a CSO working in that community. Some local persons denounced the case to the CSO volunteers. The director of the CSO took legal action and Kwame was put under the custody of an orphan house providing services to the Government. After a few months, the director of the CSO was able to get Kwame´s custody and initiate a process for formal adoption. Kwame is living now in a home full of love, free of discrimination and with persons who really take care of all his needs. Unfortunately the past context has affected Kwame until now as he continues with some health problems due to his past malnutrition status, and also his learning capabilities have been affected due to this situation. Unfortunately Kwame has not been able to learn to talk despite he is 5 years old, and due to this fact he has not been able to attend the kindergarden.
This story is linked to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 16

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COVID-19 as a global pandemic deepened existing inequalities, which exacerbated the risk of HIV vulnerability for vulnerable population groups. The lockdown measures imposed by the government of Sierra Leone adversely impacted on the livelihoods and incomes of the poorest of the poor, thereby pushing some vulnerable  women into survival sex. Unfortunately, some of these women were arbitrary arrested by the police and had to pay bribe or offer sexual favors for their freedom.

The scenario painted above shows the linkage between SDG 3; and SDG 1 and 2 on poverty and hunger - which may compel people take high risk behaviours and make themselves vulnerable to HIV infection. The gender inequality and injustice suffered by the sex workers could be averted if Goal 5 and 16 are addressed. Increasing girls' access to education under Goal 4 would also ensure that girls delay sexual debut, avoid early marriage and acquire livelihood skills that will enable them to find alternative incomes rather than engaging in sex work and increasingly their vulnerability to HIV infection.

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Khalid, a young man from Casablanca, decided to leave his homeland in search of a better life in Libya. However, his experience as an immigrant wasn't as he had hoped for. Returning to Casablanca, he found himself feeling unwell and weak.

He was taken to Ibn Rochd Hospital where, after tests, he was diagnosed with AIDS. The announcement of his illness sent shockwaves through his family. He was rejected by everyone except his mother, highlighting the importance of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), aiming to end the AIDS epidemic by 2030.

Khalid started treatment for HIV/AIDS. With the constant support from his mother and the appropriate treatment, he started regaining strength. He was finally able to resume work, illustrating SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), which promotes a safe and healthy working environment for all.

In time, Khalid fell in love and decided to marry. His wife, who was also HIV positive, was a source of comfort and support for him. They decided to move to the countryside to escape the stigma in Casablanca, reflecting SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), which advocates for the elimination of discrimination.

The couple had a child who, thanks to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission, was born HIV-free. This new life brought hope to them, and underscored the importance of SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 4 (Quality Education), both emphasizing the promotion of sexual and reproductive health and information and education.

Khalid's life is an example of how HIV, health, and the SDGs are interconnected. His struggle shows how these global challenges are not isolated but tied to a broader range of human rights, including the right to health, education, decent work, and to live free from discrimination. His resilience reminds us that despite challenges, positive change is possible.

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David - health and poverty in Sri Lanka 

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David - health and poverty in Sri Lanka 

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When I was in Sri Lanka at a time when the country was impacted by civil war and severe security issues. We were working with a number of activists from the community. I remember noticing that one of those activists – a young man in his twenties – was more often missing from meetings and his engagement in the meetings or events he did attend was less vocal. Fellow activists soon let me know that he had become homeless and as a consequence had stopped taking his ARVs. It was a stark reminder of how poverty can remove a persons ability and strength to engage. Fortunately, we encouraged whim to apply for a UNV position in the UN system which he was successful in obtaining and he went on to become a leading voice in the HIV response in the country.

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Claudia: Two stories - different contexts

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Claudia: Two stories - different contexts

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I remeber my first close interaction with a person living with HIV was a young person living with HIV and a civil society leader from Colombia. I met him during a meeting on involvement of FBOs, key populations and HIV in the early 2000s. Prior to this, my contact had been from a research perspective. Hearing his story of struggle for acceptance was an eye-opener. I really had not understood what those numbers and statistics really meant until I heard of his struggle to speak to his family about his sexual orientation and later about HIV. Sadly, I heard a few years later that he had passed away because he had stopped taking his medication. It made me reflect on the reasons and many he had shared before, he was tired of the side effects, tired of the discrimination he felt when he entered a health center to obtain his treatment and after the project he was involved with ended, do did support to his NGO. Without the NGO, he was unable to find a job very easily and have a stable income(SDG 8). This is a story that shows the need to address both the health SDG3 with inequalities (SDG10) and employment (SDG8).
My other story is a person I recruited to manage an HIV project in Central America before my time with UNAIDS. He was well educated and had worked for many well established global NGOs as a project manager. As the project began, I began noticing his lack of response to communications and disappearance for a few days at a time from the project office. Concerned for his well-being, I contact former colleagues and finally reached him. The implementation of the project was far behind but I needed to know what was happening. He finally explained that he was gay and had not had the courage to tell his mother and family. He had been living with his partner for a while in secret and now he had been diagnosed with HIV. We spoke and came to an agreement about his ability to continue with the project. A year later, I heard he had committed suicide. At the time, we were responding to HIV just from a health perspective, a communicable disease that must be treated. We had not considered the stigma and discrimination (SDG 10) not the mental health challenges this colleagues was facing.  This shows the importance of addressing HIV (SDG3) with SDG10 on inequalities. Even with in health, it is important to go beyond the specific area of HIV and communicable diseases to look at mental health and other health issues that may be encountered by people living with HIV.

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Lord – South Sudan

In 2007, I was introduced to an adult male who had been diagnosed HIV+ and was doing poorly. At the time I met him, he was very sick, was sleeping in front of someone’s shop, and did not have a stable job. He could therefore not afford to go for treatment or adequately feed himself. His situation was desperate.

I mobilised some of my friends to give him money for his treatment. We also linked him up with an NGO where he could receive food AIDS (SGD 2). After about three months, his health got better. (SDG 3).  We found him a job in a private sector firm where he started earning a stable income (SDG 8). At this point he could afford to pay his hospital bills himself. After about 7 months of working and saving money, and with financial top-up from my friends, he rented a small apartment for himself (SDG 11). The last I heard from him, he had successfully established his own business and was happily married.

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An example of a personal story from a female sex worker in Pakistan. It is an often repeated one and demonstrate the multiple SDGs that are relevant to the health and wellbeing of her and her family: I became a sex worker to support my family. I did not receive proper education and had no other option. My husband, who is living with HIV, is a tuk tuk driver but is using drugs and earning little money. My children are not able to attend school due to the stigma and discrimination they face because of what I do. I also have trouble accessing basics services including food, health and social services. I have faced violence and abuse by clients as well as police.

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The mandatory HIV testing in prenatal care for pregnant women leads many of them to discover seropositivity during this period. In many cases, husbands, who are unaware of their own serological status, begin to blame and discriminate against their wives, accusing them of being responsible for the contamination. Power inequalities between the sexes are one of the factors that reinforce male domination, making women responsible for the transmission of any sexually transmitted infection.

Most women in Mozambique are economically dependent on their husbands and, with the death of their partner from AIDS or their abandonment in cases where women have been diagnosed with HIV, they found it difficult to provide for themselves and their children. Women's financial dependence is exacerbated by low education and limited job options in a context where women receive, according to one study, 18 percent of a man's salary.

So, you can see that several SDGs are implicated when we talk about women living with HIV.

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in 1988, My elder sister died because of HIV. As she was not educated ( SDG4 ) she could not go to sick health care early . Because of Gender inequality ( SDG 5) she was not sent to school . Because of stigma, discrimination and lack of ARVS at the time no one informed her and Family members. When the husband started developing opportunistic infections I was already medical practitioner and managed to take care of him and also convince him to be open about the disease. But after some years he also died as no ARVS were available in country . I managed to take care of the 3 orphans and ensure they are educated. From that story linkage of HIV and health services is very clear. Also SDG1 related to poverty no access to ARVs was possible . Inequalities ( SDG 10 ) between Developed countries and developing countries explain why access to ARVs was delayed in my country. From that moment i decided to dedicate my life to contribute to HIV response.

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Overcoming stigma and discrimination - Marc SABA

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Overcoming stigma and discrimination - Marc SABA

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In early 2000, my sister was diagnosed HIV positive. She lost her husband and her two(2) children. She is a school teacher. She was faced a stigmatized work and family environment as well. Together with her mother they reached out to me for a support. I had a constructive and positive discussed with them and linked her to a Network of people living with HIV. Through this association she benefited from ART treatment and her health was improved. Later on she got involved in a PMTCT program and got a child born without HIV infection. Nowadays she created her personal business. She is happy and lives with dignity.

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A young boy, about 12 years was diagnosed with HIV in the Gambia. I met him 2004 when I was working for the National AIDS Secretariat and leading the Community and Civil Society Initiatives.   A very intelligent and hardworking primary school pupil who was aspiring to be a pilot, lost his father and mother due to AIDS related illnesses. He was being supported by his aunt who did all she could to ensure that he attends clinics. This young boy became close to me and Rose Claire  Charles, a UNV who worked very closely with the PLHIV support Groups. Although he was put on  treatment, his condition deteriorated indicating treatment failure and eventually he died. He did not live to realize his full potential of being a pilot.  His dreams were shattered and the country lost a young intelligent boy. That memory is still fresh in my mind.

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In Chad, children are left behind in terms of access to treatment. Less than 30% were on treatment and they faced stigma and discrimination even within their families. I developed a pilot project to support these children and adolescents in 2 main towns. These children could not attend school securely and could not socialize with other kids. None of them ever access a viral load test or psychosocial support and adherence to treatment was questionable. Most of these kids are living with their grand-parents or relatives who have difficulties to provide one meal per day. Today 2 clubs of children living with HIV were formed and they have access to care and treatment, most of them return to school, a social protection scheme is also in place with a cash transfer to support income generating activities. SDG 1, 2,3,4, 10,16

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Rape, War and HIV- Martin Odiit, UCO Tanzania

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Rape, War and HIV- Martin Odiit, UCO Tanzania

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This is a sad story of a women in eastern Uganda who was raped by soldiers during a war. The perpetrators of the crime were not identified and arrested and therefore she has not gotten justice.
This incident highlighted the violence many women undergo in conflict areas. The same women was also unfortunate in that her parent were killed by the rebels fighting the government. She later found out that she had been infected with HIV and was thrown out of her marital home by her enraged husband after disclosing her status. She lost two of her children due to the war and due to these unfortunate incidents, she developed mental health challenges. She was discriminated against by relatives, friends and inlaws with some referring to her as a promiscuous person.

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Few months ago I met 15-year-old Gonzalito in a remote community in Guatemala.
He is paraplegic, and has been living with HIV since birth. He was diagnosed rather late when he became ill. His mother was infected during a rape. He lost his mother to AIDS five years ago. He does not know his father.
He lives in a wheelchair in his grandparents' house in a very humble environment. He doesn’t go to school. He leaves his home twice a year, with difficulty and at a high cost for his caregivers, to go to do his medical exams at the HIV Comprehensive Care Unit, about 20 km away.
I met him as he is one of the beneficiaries of a project funded by UNAIDS and WFP to provide households affected by HIV with food support and various seeds to produce their own crops and hence be more sustainably economically independent.
He is a good example of the need to articulate intersectoral efforts in social protection, inclusive education, prevention of violence against women and patient-friendly health care. This story highlights linkages of HIV with SDG1 (No Poverty), SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality)and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequality) and SDG 17 (Partnerships to achieve the Goals)

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HIV related travel restrictions. Hind Hassan - Rwanda

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HIV related travel restrictions. Hind Hassan - Rwanda

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A foreign worker at my family home was diagnosed with HIV when she did the mandatory HIV screening during her immigration process to obtain residence permit as a foreign domestic worker. Her residence permit request was rejected because of her HIV status. She was instructed to leave the country within 2 weeks otherwise she will start paying fines for her overstay. She is the sole provider to her mother and 2 daughters and had left her country because of low pay and lack of job opportunities and in pursuit of better life for her mother and education for her children. Instead of linking her to treatment and care immediately, the government authorities decided to evict her. This is directly linked to SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10.

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The life of a leader transgender woman in Honduras. Alberto A Stella

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The life of a leader transgender woman in Honduras. Alberto A Stella

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This is the story of a transgender woman who was a leader and friend in Honduras. At the age of 12, while still a male child, she discovers that she feels like a woman and decides to be what she feels that she is. Discriminated against by her family, she began to live on the street with other girls in the same condition as hers. She lived in a situation of prostitution and abuse to survive, discriminated against socially and by institutions. Not having access to adequate health services for transgender people, she began modifying her body according to her perceived identity through her own means, injecting herself with silicone and oil. She becomes infected with HIV at the age of 16. She decided to continue doing sex work, not having access to other educational and work opportunities. Later, she joins a transgender NGO and becomes an activist for the rights of transgender people. She had serious health problems from self-administered silicone and oil, but she manages to survive and resolve surgically. She becomes a great leader and makes her life a testimony. With the support of UNAIDS, she organized the first Transgender Congress in Honduras. She was already a prominent leader in civil society, but for her bravery she was brutally murdered a week after the transgender congress. This story shows the relevance of SDGs 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 16 and 17

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Fighting for Social justice at the workplace: Richard Amenyah (The Caribbean)

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Fighting for Social justice at the workplace: Richard Amenyah (The Caribbean)

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My best friend Sam was diagnosed with HIV 10 years ago during a routine medical check to ensure that the workforce were healthy. The confidentiality of his medical information wasn't protected and so his results were leaked and soon the whole work place knew he was HIV positive. The embarrassment had a toll on him and soon his supervisor started treating him differently and not involving him in important meetings and task at work. This situation further impacted his mental health and he contemplated suicidal thoughts. Sam benefited from extensive psychological counselling and was put on ART and soon became virally suppressed and undetectable. Sam attended a workshop by UNAIDS on workplace policies and how it impacts productivity. He proposed it to his Director and soon his organization developed a workplace policy and how it protects labor rights, confidentiality and access to essential medical and social protection services. Sam is now married with two children all of whom are HIV negative and his children are all doing well in school. Sam is a rights advocate using his negative experiences with discrimination to champion the health and rights of his co-workers and through effective advocacy and effective partnership with his Boss.
My story highlights SDG 3, 4, 8, 16 and 17.