It is important to know: World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1.

Every year, on December 1, World AIDS Day (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) is celebrated, aimed at drawing the attention of the world community to the problem of the spread of HIV infection (human immunodeficiency virus). Read more about this Day, the disease, and the virus situation in Russia in the Izvestia article.

World AIDS Day 2025: what is known

Since 1988, December 1 has been the World AIDS Day, which gives people the opportunity to unite in the fight against HIV infections. The symbol of the Day is a red ribbon folded in a loop in the form of an inverted letter V. It was first used in 1991 as a sign of solidarity with HIV-infected people and memory of the victims of this disease. Now the red ribbon is used at all events dedicated to the fight against HIV.

Every year, the Day is dedicated to a specific theme, in 2025 — "From challenges to transformations in the response to HIV." The organizers of the Day emphasize that in the current circumstances, a new transformative approach is needed to mitigate risks and help achieve the goal of eliminating AIDS by 2030.

Special attention is being paid to the problems of financing existing programs aimed at eradicating AIDS, which can negate all the recent progress.

HIV/AIDS

The first cases of AIDS were recorded in 1981 in the United States, and by the following year it was recognized as a separate disease. A year later, its source was identified, dubbed HIV. It affects the immune system and weakens the body's defenses against a huge number of infections and diseases. AIDS is the last stage of the disease, when the body loses any ability to protect itself from infections.

In 1986, WHO (the World Health Organization) launched programs to study HIV and develop measures to combat its spread, and the following year the disease was declared a global threat to human health.

The virus is transmitted in several ways:

— during unprotected sexual intercourse;

— transfusion of infected blood;

— using contaminated needles, syringes, and other sharp instruments;

— from mother to child during pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding.

It is important to remember that people infected with HIV may not know about the virus in their body for years. Its symptoms are nonspecific, and for a long time the disease can be asymptomatic.

Today, HIV continues to be a serious threat to the world's population. According to WHO, since the beginning of the HIV epidemic, 44.1 million people have died from AIDS-related diseases. The number of people living with HIV infection is about 40.8 million, 65% of them live in the WHO African Region, which unites 47 countries of the continent.

In 2025, there was a sharp reduction in international HIV assistance, which exacerbated the existing funding gap, especially in some parts of Africa.

In July 2025, the UN website wrote that if US-supported HIV treatment and prevention services were completely discontinued, 6 million new HIV infections and 4 million AIDS-related deaths could occur between 2025 and 2029.

The reports highlight the devastating impact of funding cuts, especially in parts of Africa, which could lead to 3.3 million new HIV infections by 2030.

Sleeping threat: doctors warned about the danger of hidden infections

Diseases may not manifest themselves for years and destroy the body at the same time.

The HIV situation in Russia

The first case of HIV in Russia was recorded in 1987 in a translator who had lived in Africa for a long time. Currently, according to various sources, the total number of infected people in our country may be about 1.5 million people. According to Rospotrebnadzor, about 300-400 thousand Russians may not know about their HIV status.

According to Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko, the country continues to see a downward trend in the number of new cases. In 2024, fewer than 48.5 thousand Russians were diagnosed with HIV, which is 11% less than in 2023.

"The established system of measures to combat the spread of HIV infection demonstrates its effectiveness and strategic validity. The annual trend of decreasing the number of new cases of the disease remains: in 2024 it amounted to slightly less than 48.5 thousand, excluding new regions, which is 11% less than the same indicator a year earlier," the minister said.

Vadim Pokrovsky, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of the specialized research department for the prevention and Control of AIDS at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, also said that in 2025, more than 50 million Russians were tested.

"The incidence of HIV infection in Russia has been decreasing in recent years. Among newly diagnosed people with HIV infection, adults of active working age from 30 to 49 years old predominate, when more sexual partners accumulate, and sexual infection is now the main factor in the spread of HIV. Timely detection and treatment of patients is the main focus of the fight against this incurable disease. The number of people being tested for HIV in the Russian Federation is constantly growing, and this year more than 50 million Russians have already been tested," he said.

He also added that the methods of laboratory diagnosis of HIV infection are constantly being improved. Rospotrebnadzor scientists have developed new methods for estimating the amount of HIV integrated into the patient's cell genome. Such methods, according to him, make it possible to identify the virus hiding from modern drugs, and are aimed at finding new approaches to its complete destruction.

HIV detection and prevention

The easiest way to find out your HIV status is to donate blood and check for antibodies to the virus. In Russia, an HIV test can be taken free of charge at any healthcare facility in your place of residence or at AIDS Prevention and Control Centers.

It is important to remember that there is currently no cure for HIV, so you should think about your health in advance and follow several important rules. Since sexual contact is the most common way to transmit the disease, it is important to practice only protected sex. It is also important to stop using drugs to avoid the transmission of the virus through needles.

Experts remind that HIV is not transmitted by airborne droplets or fecal-oral routes, through insect bites, as well as through contact with materials containing HIV or intact human skin.