Monday, July 21, marks the annual global Zero HIV Stigma Day 2025, the theme of which is “HIV Stigma Warriors.” The collaborative effort challenges stereotypes, promotes the dignity of people living with HIV and raises awareness of the epidemic.

“Our 2025 theme of HIV Stigma Warriors highlights individuals and communities challenging and dismantling HIV stigma through advocacy, education and action,” explain the day’s organizers on ZeroHIVStigma.org. “The theme aims to inspire collective accountability and empower others to join the fight to end HIV stigma in all its forms everywhere—without exception.”

Ending HIV stigma, they add, means that “we see the person before the virus. A person living with or affected by HIV is first a human, deserving of every human right. HIV stigma is fundamentally a human rights violation.”

To kick off Zero HIV Stigma Day, the organizers invite you to attend a “United HIV Stigma Warriors Webinar” at 9:30 a.m. ET Monday that will unveil the 2025 Zero HIV Stigma Day Report and feature speakers from partnering groups.

Other organizations across the globe plan events and campaigns around the day. For example on Monday night in New Orleans, the Bounce to Zero initiative will host a screening of a video about HIV criminalization. For more details and to register, see the Facebook post above or click here. To learn about other events and find sharable infographics, search the hashtags #ZeroHIVStigmaDay and #HIVStigmaWarriors on social media. Sample posts are embedded throughout.

Zero HIV Stigma Day was launched by the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), the organization that’s also behind the Fast-Track Cities Institute. The 2025 campaign is additionally sponsored by Health Care Advocates International.

“This year’s Zero HIV Stigma Day theme reminds us that every act of resistance, no matter how small, is a step closer to an HIV stigma-free world,” writes José M. Zuniga, PhD, MPH, president and CEO of the IAPAC and the Fast-Track Cities Institute, in a POZ blog. “Let’s flood social media and fuel the conversation. Let’s lift up the HIV Stigma Warriors message and let it be known: We will not be silenced. We will not be erased. We will not stop until stigma is history.”

For more insight, read the full blog post, “Calling All HIV Stigma Warriors!”

On ZeroHIVStigma.org and its related social media, advocates delve into different types of stigma—internalized, interpersonal and institutional—and explore the various meanings of HIV stigma. They write that HIV stigma:

  • Refers to the negative attitudes, beliefs, and discrimination that people living with HIV may experience due to their status.

  • Involves the devaluation and labeling of individuals based on certain attributes, leading to social exclusion or marginalization, which can negatively impact health outcomes for people living with and affected by HIV.

  • Involves social disapproval, prejudicee, stereotypes associated with HIV, and disproportionately affects marginalized communities and their access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment, and care.

  • Influences people’s perceptions and beliefs, which leads to discrimination (tangible actions that result in unequal treatment or denial of rights).

  • Stigma’s negative impact on individuals and communities affected by HIV reinforces social injustices and jeopardizes efforts to end the HIV epidemic.

Zero HIV Stigma Day’s organizers chose July 21 because it is the birthday of HIV advocate Prudence Nobantu Mabele (1971–2017). She “was one of the first women in South Africa to disclose her HIV status,” according to Zero HIV Stigma’ Day’s promotional materials.

“Prudence set a precedent to encourage other women with HIV to discuss their status with loved ones, to live without shame, to seek treatment and to lead happy and fulfilled lives,” explains the campaign. “We chose Prudence’s birthday to honor her work and tireless activism to end HIV stigma.”

Click here to learn more about 2025 HIV and AIDS awareness days, and click here for a printable poster.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by POZ Magazine (@pozmagazine)