From the AIDS crisis to COVID - we cannot allow history to repeat itself

This blog is written by our friends at Act Up London.

Today is World AIDS Day. 36.3 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses globally during forty years of the HIV epidemic. Today, we take time to remember those who have passed. In 2021, people with HIV can live healthy lives and not pass on the virus with effective treatment. But it’s not over. HIV stigma and a lack of access to testing and treatment are still major challenges to overcome while global infection rates rise. Furthermore, this recurring issue of treatment inaccessibility is at large in the current Coronavirus pandemic. And most people living with HIV have not had access to COVID-19 vaccines. 

In these past two years of the Coronavirus pandemic, more than five million people have died of COVID-19. While high income countries - like the United Kingdom - can access vaccines and treatment, many lower income countries face catastrophic loss of lives. ‘Silence=Death’ is once again our call to action. It is a battle cry that originated during one of the darkest times of the AIDS crisis in 1980s America, just as the virus began to take hold of the African continent. ‘Silence=Death’ is used to call out global, blind ignorance and staggering death counts. As with the AIDS crisis, we repeat it now in the fight for equal access to COVID-19 vaccines, treatment and knowledge. 

Pharma profiteering has overtaken the urgent health needs of whole countries. Some high income countries, including the UK, EU, Switzerland, and Norway, are blocking the TRIPS waiver. This waiver would open access to vaccine production technology and knowledge, enabling all countries to produce and distribute life-saving vaccines to their people. The reality is, until everybody has access to a COVID-19 vaccine, this virus will be able to expand its reach, mutate and grow stronger.

COVID-19 and HIV strike a similar tone when it comes to the invisibilising of people, regions, and countries. More than ever, we need to stand in solidarity with those parts of the world that are being ignored. Right now, we must not stay silent. Silence=Death!

Act Up London is part of a coalition of activist groups (Just Treatment, STOPAIDS, Global Justice Now, People’s Vaccine Alliance) with a common interest in healthcare access for all. Yesterday, we came together outside the UK Parliament, supported by Caroline Lucas MP, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti, and Clive Lewis MP. Carrying a 9m ‘Silence=Death’ banner, we focused attention on deafening silence and inaction. We demand that the UK government helps to bring an end to deadly COVID monopolies that big pharma are profiteering from.

Support the TRIPS waiver, UK Government! Because your complacency is a silence that most certainly results in more deaths, everywhere.