My endeavor became to make a difference in the lives of people with HIV.
Tell their stories- positive stories where they were the protagonists, they were loving parents, spouses, children . Regular human beings who were wanting to live life.
I covered HIV within the country, from visiting Khumb Melas to some far flung areas in Andhra and Karnataka.
Covered international conferences in various countries where I met commoners and celebrities- including heads of states like former US president Bill Clinton. ( almost fainted while shaking hands with Richard Gere but that’s another story).
I felt so strongly about the issue - wanted to stand holding playcards demanding access to medicine, decriminalization of LGBT community ( Q was not officially added ).

This was the health coverage I missed most when I shifted to conflict reporting in Kashmir in 2010. However I have started looking at the subject and realised only thing, while nearly a million people still die every year from the virus because they don’t know they have HIV or don’t take treatment in time . WHO guidelines in 2015 insist all people living with HIV should receive antiretroviral treatment, regardless of their immune status and stage of infection.
Look at the number
Since the beginning of the epidemic in 1988, 79.3 million people have become infected with HIV, as per UNAIDS. HIV has claimed over 36.3 million lives, according to WHO.
There is some good news . UNAIDS says new HIV infections have been reduced by 52 per cent since the peak in 1997, around the world. It further states that in 2020, around 1.5 million people were newly infected with HIV, compared to 3.0 million people in 1997.
UNAIDS adds that since 2010, new HIV infections have declined by 31%, from 2.1 million to 1.5 million in 2020. It states that since 2010, new HIV infections even in children have declined by 53%, from 3,20,000 in 2010 to 1,50,000 in 2020.

Source for figures NDTV