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World AIDS Day Prayer Vigil

December 1 is Worlds Aid Day. It is an opportunity to raise awareness, commemorate those who have died, and celebrate victories such as increased access to treatment and prevention service.

Sign up here for a one-hour time slot during our 24-hour vigil on December 1.

Today, 40.8 million people are living with HIV worldwide, 1.3 million new infections occurred in 2024, and 9.2 million people are still not accessing treatment. A failure to reach the 2030 global HIV targets in the next Global AIDS Strategy could result in an additional 3.3 million new HIV infections between 2025 and 2030.

Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is possible!

According to UNAIDS, we can end the AIDS epidemic through testing, treatment, prevention, and addressing stigma. Today, thanks to the work of research scientists over the past 40 years, the first shot to offer long-lasting protection from HIV infection — eliminating the need for people to take a daily pill — exists. And people with HIV are living long, healthy lives by taking daily medication, and some have been functionally cured under specific medical circumstances. 

Inequalities still exist, putting lives at risk.

The latest report from UNAIDS on the global HIV response details the far-reaching consequences of changes by the United States and other leading countries in 2025. Four decades into what was historic levels of cooperation, inequalities still persist for the most basic services like testing, treatment, and prevention, and even more so for new medications and technologies.

That is why the theme for World AIDS Day 2025 is “Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response,” focusing on resilience against challenges like funding crises, and building innovative and equitable systems to end the epidemic.

On World AIDS Day, December 1, 2025, UNAIDS is calling on leaders and partners to:

  • Reaffirm global solidarity, multilateralism and the collective commitment to fight and end AIDS together.
  • Maintain funding for the response.
  • Invest in innovation, including affordable long-acting prevention and treatment options.

After decades of struggle, the global HIV response is within reach of its goal of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. The world has come too far—and achieved too much—to allow progress to unravel at this moment of historic opportunity.

Join us in Prayer on World AIDS Day

God of all compassion,
Comfort your sons and daughters
Who live with HIV.
Spread over us all your quilt of mercy,
Love and peace.

Open our eyes to your presence
Reflected in their faces.
Open our ears to your truth
Echoing in their hearts.

Give us the strength
To weep with the grieving,
To walk with the lonely,
To stand with the depressed.

May our love mirror your love
For those who live in fear,
Who live under stress and
Who suffer rejection.

Mothering, fathering God
Grant rest to those who have died
And hope to all who live with HIV.

God of life, help us to find the cure now
And help us to build a world in which
No one dies alone and where
Everyone lives accepted
Wanted and loved.
Amen.

Faith in action: