World AIDS Day: Join the Campaign to End AIDS, Raise Awareness, and Support People Living with HIV
World AIDS Day is brought back into conversation every year when December 1 arrives. This important day was established to campaign for stopping the spread…
World AIDS Day is brought back into public conversation every year when December 1 arrives. This important day was established to campaign for stopping the spread of HIV, whose infection rate keeps climbing higher and higher. On average, data for 2021 showed roughly 16 new infections per day, and there are still many people who do not know their own HIV status. This leaves them unable to enter treatment promptly, at risk of passing the virus to their sexual partners, and vulnerable to various serious illnesses that can occur as the body grows weaker.
The History of World AIDS Day
AIDS was first officially identified in 1981 in the United States. The patient was a man who had sex with men and was suffering from pneumonia caused by Pneumocystis Carinii, even though he had previously been in very good health. Laboratory results found that the cells responsible for immunity could no longer function normally. According to retrospective studies, back in 1960 this disease originated in the region of West Africa and later spread to the island of Haiti, the Americas, Europe, and Asia, including Thailand.
The World Health Organization designated December 1 of every year as “World AIDS Day,” starting on December 1, 1988, as the first year, with the following objectives:
To keep the various awareness activities running continuously
To spread knowledge and understanding about AIDS more widely
To promote acceptance of, and care for, patients and people living with HIV
To make everyone aware of the dangers of transmission and of illness caused by AIDS
To strengthen and support greater prevention measures at every level of society
The way to know whether or not you have HIV cannot be judged from the various symptoms that appear, because HIV does not react with the body quickly, and there are also other factors related to each person’s health. The only way to know whether you have HIV is through a blood test. It is important that the sooner you find out, the sooner you have the chance to take care of yourself right away, without waiting until you become ill or develop symptoms.
In the early period, the symptoms of a person infected with HIV are almost the same as those of other common illnesses and cannot be specifically pinpointed as this particular disease. The symptoms can be divided into three stages, as follows:
First Stage
Also called the “acute HIV infection stage,” it occurs roughly 2–4 weeks after infection. Most people experience flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, chills, body aches, fatigue, numbness in the arms and legs, diarrhea, red rash, mouth sores, swollen lymph nodes, and heavy night sweats. These result from the body responding to HIV infection, and the symptoms of this first stage can go away on their own.
Also called the “AIDS stage,” this is when HIV has fully developed to the point of progressing into AIDS. The patient’s immune system becomes quite weak, resulting in various illnesses such as fever, chronic diarrhea lasting several consecutive weeks, weight loss, sores on the genitals, oral herpes, shingles, the onset of memory loss, pneumonia, tuberculosis, and so on.
“Equalize: Make It Equal”
The Main Goals of Ending the AIDS Problem
The goals that have been set recognize the importance of AIDS, which has not yet disappeared from Thailand. There are three “No’s”: No infection, No death, No stigma.
Reduce the number of new HIV infections to no more than 1,000 per year
Reduce the death rate among people living with HIV to no more than 4,000 per year
Reduce stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV
Therefore, to advance the goal of “making things equal,” it can start with all of us, by not stigmatizing or discriminating against people living with HIV, in order to build a new set of values for Thai society, namely:
HIV/AIDS is normal
Using a condom every time you have sex is normal
Getting tested for HIV is normal
Accessing HIV prevention and treatment services is normal
Supporting Equality in Every Form of Service, Including:
Driving the issue of stigma and discrimination
In every form related to HIV. If anyone encounters stigma and discrimination, everyone has the right to report the violation immediately through the Crisis Response System (CRS) website, an easily accessible online complaint channel that reduces complicated procedures and encourages people living with HIV, as well as those who face stigma and discrimination, to dare to speak up and to have the right to receive the same equality as everyone else.
Promoting condom use
Using a condom every time you have sex, no matter who it is with, should be seen by everyone as normal (Normalize Condom Use). Public outreach promotes using condoms correctly, because it is a way of taking responsibility toward one’s own sexual partner and toward society. Everyone has the right to access condoms for protection and can obtain condoms for free at subdistrict health-promoting hospitals and public hospitals, and can ask for information about condom services at government public-health facilities nationwide.
HIV self-test kits
Promoting access to the HIV Self-Test as a tool that helps everyone learn their own HIV status. The kits can be accessed easily and voluntarily, encouraging everyone to test for HIV anywhere and anytime, on an equal basis. HIV self-test kits can be purchased at general pharmacies, although at present they may not yet be sold everywhere across the country. Even if you test yourself and find that you have HIV, you should confirm the result again at a hospital. In the future, there may be a healthcare benefits package through which Thai people can access HIV test kits for free.
HIV services
Community-led HIV service provision by civil-society organizations, to promote equal access to services related to HIV and AIDS, so that everyone can easily access services within their own community.
World AIDS Day is just one day each year that reminds everyone to correctly understand the HIV virus and AIDS. We sincerely hope that presenting knowledge about AIDS will help create equality for everyone, both those who have the virus and those who do not, with comprehensive and appropriate access to related services throughout the country in the future.
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Links and relevance to the article’s main topic were reviewed on 13 August 2026. Each source supports only the scope stated in the original document and does not replace personalised medical, legal, or service advice.
Written and reviewed byLove Foundation Editorial Team
Health and community-rights editorial team
Published 30 November 2022
· Last updated 14 August 2026
