12/02/2025
❤️🌈
Today is World AIDS Day, a global observance that for nearly 40 years has recognized the impact of HIV/AIDS, honored lives lost, and shown support for people living with HIV. While major medical advances mean the end of the HIV crisis is in sight, it remains a significant public health issue, particularly amid new funding challenges that threaten to unravel recent progress.
Ways to observe World AIDS Day:
Wear:
🎀 The red ribbon is the universal symbol of HIV/AIDS awareness. Wearing one – or simply wearing red – shows solidarity with those affected.
Watch:
🖥️ The CDPH-produced three-part documentary “HIV and the Journey Toward Zero” highlights the experiences of Chicagoans living with and who’ve been fighting HIV from the early days of the crisis to today. All three parts are available at journeytowardzero.com
Visit:
📍 AIDS Garden Chicago, a 2.5 acre park along Lake Michigan at Belmont Avenue, honors the early days of the epidemic in Chicago, and those who continue to fight.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt, an epic 54-ton tapestry, with about 50,000 panels honoring more than 110,000 people whose lives were lost to HIV/AIDS, is online to view and search, presenting stories of hope, courage, compassion, and love.
Prevent:
👉 HIV prevention medications, including PrEP (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis) and PEP (Post-Exposure Prophylaxis) are highly effective. PrEP can be taken daily by pill or long-acting injection. For information about PrEP or PEP, or help getting connected to a provider, trained navigators at Chicago’s HIV HUB (844) 482-4040 can assist.
