Youth HIV Prevention Campaign 2024: art exhibition challenges HIV stigma

On the occasion of the 37th World AIDS Day, the Chinese Association of STD and AIDS Prevention and Control and China Youth Daily, with support from Gilead Sciences, co-organized the Youth HIV Prevention Campaign 2024. The cornerstone of the campaign is a themed art exhibition named Acceptance, which was unveiled in Beijing, and educational posters adapted from the artworks, which were displayed in subway stations, bus stops and landmark buildings in Shanghai, Chongqing, Xi'an, Changsha, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanning, Shenyang, Nanjing, Guangzhou and other cities to raise public awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, especially among youth groups, and calling on society to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against people with HIV and create a more friendly social environment.

Succession: a years-long youth HIV prevention campaign

The health of young people, especially college and university students, has always been of great concern to society. Since 2015, the National Health Commission, the Ministry of Education and other departments have issued several important documents requesting that greater attention be paid to and greater efforts be made to educate college students on the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS.

China Youth Daily, Gilead Sciences and other organizations have been organizing the Youth HIV Prevention Campaign since 2019 to exemplify the requirement of "carrying out various forms of publicity, education and comprehensive intervention activities" put forward by the AIDS Education Project for Students. Their mission has been to bring disease education activities and publicity to colleges, universities and communities across the country, invite medical academicians and experts to disseminate HIV prevention and treatment knowledge among students and invite ideological and political teachers to help them build up the perception of "being the first person to be responsible for one's own health". The campaign also encourages young people to participate in volunteer work and learn and spread the knowledge of HIV prevention. Every year, the Youth HIV Prevention Campaign visits over 100 colleges and universities nationwide. Through online and offline publicity, it has reached hundreds of millions of people.

Jin Fangqian, vice-president of Gilead and the general manager for its China affiliate, said: "This is the 6th time we have come together for youth HIV prevention. As a leading biopharma company based on innovative research and development, Gilead has rapidly introduced several innovative HIV prevention and treatment medicines into the Chinese market since the start of its official operations in China in 2017. We have also invested significantly in local R&D and have facilitated the rapid rollout of about 20 clinical research programs in China over the past two years. Building on our global and China innovation strengths, Gilead will continue to accelerate the introduction of innovative therapies, including twice-yearly HIV medicines. We will also proactively collaborate with government, medical organizations, industry and community partners to ensure that those in need can have easier access to the approved innovative drugs to meet the requirements of HIV prevention and treatment. At the same time, we will continue to leverage our expertise and strengths in the antiretroviral field to support HIV disease education and comprehensive prevention and control in China. We hope that we can gather more social forces to focus on HIV prevention among young people, strive to tackle the various challenges posed by HIV, and spare no effort to advance towards the future of ending AIDS."