National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day

The impact of HIV/AIDS on women and girls often goes unnoticed. Taking the same into consideration, National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day came to its genesis. Celebrated every year on March 10, this day is specifically for spreading awareness and educating people on the factors of HIV/AIDS, its prevention and the necessary measures to take to subdue its prevalence. This day can be witnessed with several online campaigns being active, people raising their voices, and engagement within communities. Stay with us as we expand on the day in this blog. 

Timeline

National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day started in 2005. It is a nationwide event in the United States of America that continues the conversation on HIV and AIDS with particular emphasis on its impact on women and girls. This significant day is led by the Office on Women’s Health (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). To know about the timeline of the day, pay attention to the table below. 

1920s	The time when early signs of HIV were recorded in humans.
1981	HIV/AIDS was officially identified as an epidemic with minority groups being discriminated against and suffering the most.
1998	Campaigns such as The Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) emerged for spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention.
2005	To highlight the lack of attention to HIV and AIDS impacting women and girls, campaigns like National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day are brought to official status.

Also Read: United Nations: International Women’s Day

National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day of 2023 – Theme of 2023

Acting as an awareness day, March 10 holds a particular theme every year. The theme of National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day of 2023 is as follows. 

“Prevention and Testing at Every Age. 

Care and Treatment at Every Stage.”

The goals of National HIV/AIDS are reinforced with themes such as 2023. The efforts of preventing new HIV infections and managing to improve the health outcomes of people living with HIV/AIDS are continued. 

Also Read: Women’s Equality Day

Significance

It is important that we, as a society, acknowledge the very real threat that HIV/AIDS poses towards women as it does to other genders. Women are vulnerable to HIV infection regardless of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age. They can be the recipients of this infection through sexual encounters with their partners. Women are often not aware of the risk factors of coming in contact with the infection as easily as they can, and because of this, they may not follow preventive measures such as using a condom. This day is celebrated to work towards providing women and girls with the right resources to understand their need to keep themselves safe and cautious. 

Furthermore, lesser-known knowledge on informative points such as the increasing likelihood of getting or transmitting HIV through STDs such as syphilis remains unacknowledged which this day brings back to the forefront. Moreover, the higher importance of spreading awareness of the vulnerability of sexually abused women and girls is addressed through the presence of online campaigns and groundwork based on and around National Women and Girls HIV and AIDS Awareness Day. 

Also Read: World Thinking Day

Facts to Know 

Shared below are some of the most prominent facts that substantiate the awareness of the relationship between HIV/AIDS and women/girls in the USA. 

How Can You Help?

This is what you can do to help and contribute towards spreading awareness on HIV and AIDS impacting women and girls. 

1. Get Educated: Learn about HIV/AIDS and its preventive measures. Work on following safe-sex tips and share awareness of the same. Act according to the knowledge this day aims to empower people, and set an example for others in your community. 
2. Get Tested: Knowing about your HIV status helps you follow through the right steps so that you don’t further act as an ignorant medium to spread the infection. 
3. Get Involved: Contribute to your local community-based organisations that have incessantly been working towards HIV/AIDS preventive measures; get involved with spreading awareness; attend talks, and be an ally.  

Additional Resources 

You will need resources to refer to, for your own study, and for spreading awareness. Check out the resources shared below!

• NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research (FY 2021—2025)
• National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet
• Women and HIV
• Top Questions about HIV Prevention and Women

Also Read: World NGO Day

FAQs

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