• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • Witness for Justice
  • Regaining the Momentum to End the HIV Epidemic
Witness for Justice

Regaining the Momentum to End the HIV Epidemic

by Michael Schuenemeyer | published on Aug 11, 2022

Anyone who lives paycheck to paycheck knows they are a small crisis away from falling behind in ways that can lead to a cascade of negative consequences for them and their family. Even when you’re able to manage your resources efficiently and get a little ahead, something can come along and knock you off course. The news from AIDS 2022 is a bit like this.

For the past several years, the HIV response has been living “paycheck to paycheck,” struggling to keep up with meeting the goals for ending the HIV epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. So many things have been in place to realize this goal. While there is still no cure for HIV, effective treatment can keep HIV from damaging one’s immune system to the point that HIV becomes undetectable.

When HIV is undetectable it is untransmissible, U=U. Treatment is a key tool for getting to zero new infections, one of three essential “zero” goals for ending the epidemic. Zero stigma and zero HIV-related deaths are the other two. In recent years, the goals were being met in some places and progress was being made in other areas that were falling short. We were living on the edge, our progress was a kind of “paycheck to paycheck” thing, and then came COVID-19.

The UNAIDS Global AIDS Update 2022 reported in stark ways that the global AIDS response is under threat. There were 1.5 million new HIV infections in 2021, which is more than one million over the global targets. There were 650,000 AIDS-related deaths, even though effective treatment exists to prevent those deaths. In fact, the number of people accessing treatment increased slower in 2021 than it has in more than ten years.

In his book, “HIV and AIDS in 2030: A Choice Between Two Futures,” David Barstow discusses the cascade of consequences the world would face if we failed to reach the goals for ending the HIV epidemic. The cost is huge in terms of suffering and loss of life. And there’s a different future that can be chosen. It is a future that depends on what we invest now to make effective antiretroviral treatment accessible to all and the actions we take to overcome stigma and discrimination.

The news from AIDS 2022 couldn’t be clearer: we have lost ground over the past two years and the most vulnerable have been hit hardest. But the message coming out of AIDS 2022 also was encouraging. It stressed the vital importance of bringing together research, policy, activism, faith, and our resources to overcome this “paycheck to paycheck” mode of response, restoring the momentum in our HIV efforts, and keeping our promise to end the HIV epidemic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Schuenemeyer is the Team Leader for Health and Wholeness Advocacy Ministries for the United Church of Christ and Executive Director of the United Church of Christ HIV & AIDS Network (aka UCAN).

View this and other columns on the UCC’s Witness for Justice page.
Donate to support Witness for Justice.
Click here to download the bulletin insert.

Categories: Column Witness for Justice

Sign Up For Our Newsletter








Privacy Policy






Related News

The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Caring for God’s Creation: A 2023 Statistical Snapshot of the UCC

The care of God’s creation is a central calling of Christians that has found unique...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

With Young Adult Leadership, a Church Dives into Creation Justice

At Friedens UCC in Indianapolis, we thank God for the opportunity to serve with Sierra...

Read More
The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog

Struggling Churches May Be Climate Justice Teachers

In January 2020, the UCC’s Council for Climate Justice issued a Kairos Call to Action which...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
    • How can I find local churches near me? Click here!
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative