World AIDS Day, a global event held every December 1 dedicated to awareness of the HIV pandemic, focuses this year on grassroots efforts, with a theme of Let Communities Lead. The goal this year is to strengthen groups focused on those living with, at risk of, or affected by HIV. But “communities are being held back in their leadership,” UNAIDS notes. “Funding shortages, policy and regulatory hurdles, capacity constraints, and crackdowns on civil society and on the human rights of marginalized communities, are obstructing the progress of HIV prevention and treatment services. If these obstacles are removed, community-led organizations can add even greater impetus to the global HIV response, advancing progress towards the end of AIDS.”
The World Health Organization, a major driver of World AIDS Day, describes the annual…
