The United States Cancels World AIDS Day

What does silence equal?

“The US government will not be commemorating World AIDS Day this year” is the official instruction US agencies and country-based programs received in a recent email.

Alt text: A screen shot of an email with a bulleted list that does not use parallel grammatical construction or properly formatted “em” dashes but does make it crystal clear: if you work for the US you cannot say, publicly, that World AIDS Day matters.

In case of confusion, the instructions clarify what compliance with the directive entails:

• USG funds should not be used for any World AIDS Day events or commemorative activities.

• Please refrain from publicly promoting World AIDS Day through any communication channels, including social media, media engagements, speeches or other public-facing messaging.

• USG personnel may attend external, locally organized World AIDS Day events but may not speak at these events or promote their attendance via social media or media channels.

The good news is: I have an answer to a question I asked three weeks ago.

Alt text: A screenshot of the automatic reply I received from the State Department media affairs office on November 6 in response to a query sent through the formal channel asking whether the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy was planning to observe World AIDS Day. A reply to my query is not how I learned the answer to my question.

As for the bad news?

Here’s a quick rundown:

• World AIDS Day is a day when the US government acknowledges the epidemic here in the United States as well as our work around the world. It’s a day to talk about racial disparities, the role of homophobia, transphobia, healthcare deserts and Medicaid cuts and a whole range of other issues that hinder our national response. Even if it is not surprising that the US will remain silent on its own epidemic, it is still shameful. It is hazardous for individual and communal health to grow so accustomed to abuse that it passes without remark. HIV is ongoing in America. The AIDS crisis is not over and is instead evolving and we know, to our bones, that Silence=Death.

• World AIDS Day is the day when the US government’s global HIV program shares public-facing data about cumulative and annual progress. I have a couple of data sources (post reads, interest from other outlets) that my, ahem, preoccupation with whether or not the US government shares data on World AIDS Day isn’t a front burner issue for others. I feel you. US reporting on other countries’ epidemics is handsy and a little neocolonial. And: Not reporting on the year when the US government upended its funding in countries where it has spent decades investing and building partnerships isn’t decolonizing. It’s keeping the lights dim on lives lost, suffering babies, sick adults and fearful people at risk of HIV who no longer have the safety to access pre exposure prophylaxis or other HIV prevention. And we know, to our bones: Silence=Death.

• Public-facing events at country level are a moment when the US government shows its partnership and commitment. World AIDS Day in Uganda, where I’ve reported for twenty five years, means outdoor tents covering white plastic chairs, scratchy sound systems playing Shania Twain, luke warm sodas in glass bottles, and American and Ugandan counterparts in the HIV fight affirming the work done and what’s to come. Americans just spent two weeks visiting Uganda and countries across sub-Saharan Africa negotiating future funding for the HIV fight. But now that the US dignitaries have gone home, in country USG staff cannot speak at these events.

Silence=Death.