Getting to Zero

From 29 November to 2 January, an exhibition "Getting to Zero" dedicated to World AIDS Day runs in the Official Documents Division (room 207).

This Day is annually celebrated across the world on 1 December since it has been adopted in 1988 in accordance with the decision of the World Health Organization (WHA41/1988/REC/1) and the UN General Assembly (resolution 43 /15).

World AIDS Day has become one of the most important international days related to health issues and a key opportunity to raise awareness, tributes to those who died, and an opportunity to mark such achievements as the widening of access to treatment and prevention measures.

AIDS remains one of the greatest challenges facing the world; it is a tragedy from which people suffer and which undermines the development of modern society. The first case of immunodeficiency syndrome was recorded by the U.S. Center for Disease Control in the United States on 5 June, 1981. For three decades, AIDS killed more than 25 million lives, more than 34 million people were infected with HIV, 16 million children born by HIV-positive parents became orphans. Every day the virus still affects more than seven thousand people including a thousand of children. Only in 2012, 2.3 million new cases of HIV infection were registered. No country avoided terrible consequences of this truly global epidemic.

Realizing the increasing complexities associated with HIV / AIDS, the United Nations established the Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS) in 1996. UNAIDS supports the long-term global projects on HIV infection and AIDS, helps fight for human rights regardless of their HIV status, provides assistance to countries around the world in research on HIV / AIDS.

World AIDS Day is annually held under various mottos which reflect current problems. "Getting to Zero" is a theme chosen for this year’s campaign. The achievement of the goal of "zero" is a common strategic objective in the field of HIV by 2015 which has been formulated by UNAIDS as, "Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths".

In Belarus, measures to fight against HIV are also carried out. In order to subdue the spread of HIV, reduce mortality rates from AIDS, as well as to fulfill international obligations regarding the Declaration of Commitment on HIV / AIDS and the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN General Assembly, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus approved the State Program on HIV prevention for 2011–2015. This program enables to expand access to comprehensive health services to people living with HIV, to implement measures to reduce the risk of HIV transmission from mother to child, to fulfill the HIV prevention activities among the population, to improve training and education programs on HIV infection among the population, including young people. Over the past few years, there were succeeded great achievements in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection in the country.

The exhibition contains over 100 documents of international organizations (UN, UNESCO, the European Union, the Council of Europe, etc.) in Russian and English: books, periodicals, UN mimeographed materials, brochures and booklets.

The exhibition consists of the following sections:

• The AIDS epidemic: a global overview.
• What AIDS is and its impact on people and society, treatment and care.
• HIV / AIDS prevention.
• International cooperation to confront HIV / AIDS. UNAIDS activities.
• AIDS and human rights.
• State policy on HIV / AIDS in the Republic of Belarus.

The exhibition is intended for social and health workers, law enforcement officers, teachers and students, teachers and parents, as well as all those interested in issues related to HIV / AIDS.

Useful links

• Joint United Nations Program on HIV / AIDS (UNAIDS)
• Activities to Combat HIV / AIDS
• High Level Meeting on AIDS (8–10 June, 2011)
• XVIII International Conference on HIV / AIDS (Vienna, Austria, 18–23 July, 2010)
• HIV: WHO’s new recommendations to improve health, reduce infections and save lives
• GA special session (25–27 June, 2001)
• HIV / AIDS: UNICEF materials
• UN works to stop HIV / AIDS
• World AIDS Day

Documents

• UNAIDS Report on the World AIDS Day 2011
• UNAIDS report "Responding to AIDS"
• Report on the global AIDS epidemic (2008)
• Political Declaration on HIV / AIDS: Intensifying our Efforts to Eliminate HIV / AIDS (2011)
• Political Declaration on HIV / AIDS adopted at the High Level Meeting on AIDS (2 June, 2006)
• Declaration of Commitment on HIV / AIDS adopted at the 26th session of the General Assembly (27 June, 2001)
• Vienna Declaration