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The independents The AIDS Free Campaign has been hailed today as a challenge to "30 years of stigma" against people living with HIV, since it had been announced that more than 3.26 £ million had been collected.
As our two-month campaign comes to an end, activists, activists and people living with the virus have expressed hope that this would have helped to change attitudes about the infection.
Chris Sandford, who was diagnosed with HIV in the 1980s, said that he wanted to thank L & # 39; Independent for trying to fight against ignorance about HIV.
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"Finally, someone is trying to educate the public and combat stigma, discrimination and negative media coverage," said the 71-year-old.
The campaign, in partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation, was launched on December 3 to do more testing and treatment and fundraise for projects overseas, including: ultimate goal being to create a future without AIDS.
Dr. Will Nutland, co-founder of PrEPster, who advocates for better access to HIV preventive treatment, PrEP, said: "In addition to fundraising, the campaign raised public awareness of prevention, treatment and prevention issues. and HIV treatment.
Dr. Nutland, an honorary professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, added, "Knowing that millions more people know PrEP has made the campaign worthwhile.
Angelina Namiba, 51, who participated in our campaign after having a baby after the diagnosis of HIV and who was born free of infection, said: "The reports were factual, used language that did not stigmatize and describing our real life as people living with HIV, that we are not different from other members of society, we simply have a virus that does not define who we are as individuals. An example of how all media should report. "
1/10 Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev
The Independent has launched its Christmas Charity Appeal for Essential HIV Testing Worldwide with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Funds raised will be used to ensure that people at risk can be screened and make sure they have access to the treatment they need. Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev with their swabs for the HIV test at the Ponce Center in Atlanta
Jeremy Selwyn
2/10 Elton John and Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams had never heard of the word HIV when he was HIV-positive. It was his mother who forced him to see a doctor where he was diagnosed that he thought was a death sentence.
At that time, he was in a wheelchair. It was the unbearable itching of his back that eventually led him to get medical help, but, he discovered, he had not only HIV, but also diabetes, high blood pressure and a kidney disease.
It was two years ago. This week, as the 31-year-old joined Sir Elton John, Evening Standard and independent owner The Independent, Evgeny Lebedev, in Atlanta to witness the groundbreaking new advances against the disease at the city's Grady Ponce De Leon Center, no armchair rolling was necessary. . He now knew that there was no need to fear
Jeremy Selwyn
3/10 Evgeny Lebedev and Andrew Williams
Two months after the start of the last antiretroviral drugs, the virus in her body had become undetectable in her blood. Not only is he now healthy, partly because of the drugs and healthy lifestyle adopted for his other illnesses, but he can hardly pbad on the infection to other people.
He feels, he says, "reborn". "I have a reason to live," he says, "and that's to help people who were like me – and to show that all is well."
Jeremy Selwyn
4/10
It was such an optimistic message that he was brought to tears. He knows first-hand the realities of what a diagnosis of HIV can mean in the past. When he founded his Elton John AIDS Foundation in the United States in 1992, it was because his friends were dying and he wanted to do everything he could, everything that he did. He could, to help.
"When we created the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we delivered meals to people's doorsteps," he said. "[The stigma meant] they would not go out. We have come a long way. "
Jeremy Selwyn
5/10
But part of the reason for her tears was not just the happiness of Andrew's story. It was also the knowledge that, despite all the progress made, the struggle is far from over – indeed, in some parts of the world, the situation is getting worse. Sir Elton John with everyone at the Ponce Center in Atlanta
Jeremy Selwyn
6/10
That's why he and Mr. Lebedev came to Atlanta to mark the first day of our Christmas call, because this city is unfortunately a place where the situation does not just get worse, but also, like the have clearly indicated those in the center. .
Jeremy Selwyn
7/10
Sir Elton John with Vic Mensa at the Ponce Center
Jeremy Selwyn
8/10 Sir Elton John with his anti-HIV swab
In Atlanta, one of the richest cities in America and home to international giants such as Coca-Cola and CNN, if you're a gay black man in 2018, then, incredibly, you still have a Luck out of two to be diagnosed as HIV positive for your life.
Jeremy Selwyn
9/10
Elton John with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Jeremy Selwyn
10/10
Elton John speaks at Ponce Center
Jeremy Selwyn
1/10 Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev
The Independent has launched its Christmas Charity Appeal for Essential HIV Testing Worldwide with the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Funds raised will be used to ensure that people at risk can be screened and make sure they have access to the treatment they need. Sir Elton John and Evgeny Lebedev with their swabs for the HIV test at the Ponce Center in Atlanta
Jeremy Selwyn
2/10 Elton John and Andrew Williams
Andrew Williams had never heard of the word HIV when he was HIV-positive. It was his mother who forced him to see a doctor where he was diagnosed that he thought was a death sentence.
At that time, he was in a wheelchair. It was the unbearable itching of his back that eventually led him to get medical help, but, he discovered, he had not only HIV, but also diabetes, high blood pressure and a kidney disease.
It was two years ago. This week, as the 31-year-old joined Sir Elton John, Evening Standard and independent owner The Independent, Evgeny Lebedev, in Atlanta to witness the groundbreaking new advances against the disease at the city's Grady Ponce De Leon Center, no armchair rolling was necessary. . He now knew that there was no need to fear
Jeremy Selwyn
3/10 Evgeny Lebedev and Andrew Williams
Two months after the start of the last antiretroviral drugs, the virus in her body had become undetectable in her blood. Not only is he now healthy, partly because of the drugs and healthy lifestyle adopted for his other illnesses, but he can hardly pbad on the infection to other people.
He feels, he says, "reborn". "I have a reason to live," he says, "and that's to help people who were like me – and to show that all is well."
Jeremy Selwyn
4/10
It was such an optimistic message that he was brought to tears. He knows first-hand the realities of what a diagnosis of HIV can mean in the past. When he founded his Elton John AIDS Foundation in the United States in 1992, it was because his friends were dying and he wanted to do everything he could, everything that he did. He could, to help.
"When we created the Elton John AIDS Foundation, we delivered meals to people's doorsteps," he said. "[The stigma meant] they would not go out. We have come a long way. "
Jeremy Selwyn
5/10
But part of the reason for her tears was not just the happiness of Andrew's story. It was also the knowledge that, despite all the progress made, the struggle is far from over – indeed, in some parts of the world, the situation is getting worse. Sir Elton John with everyone at the Ponce Center in Atlanta
Jeremy Selwyn
6/10
That's why he and Mr. Lebedev came to Atlanta to mark the first day of our Christmas call, because this city is unfortunately a place where the situation does not just get worse, but also, like the have clearly indicated those in the center. .
Jeremy Selwyn
7/10
Sir Elton John with Vic Mensa at the Ponce Center
Jeremy Selwyn
8/10 Sir Elton John with his anti-HIV swab
In Atlanta, one of the richest cities in America and home to international giants such as Coca-Cola and CNN, if you're a gay black man in 2018, then, incredibly, you still have a Luck out of two to be diagnosed as HIV positive for your life.
Jeremy Selwyn
9/10
Elton John with Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Jeremy Selwyn
10/10
Elton John speaks at Ponce Center
Jeremy Selwyn
Amanda Ely, head of the Children's HIV Association, added, "We hope people following this campaign L & # 39; Independent learned new things about HIV and what it means to live with HIV today and about people's normal lives.
"Stigma can have a huge impact on how young people manage their lives with HIV, and a lot of them keep it hidden for fear that people will misunderstand it.
The call without AIDS ends with the World Summit in London
Anne Aslett, CEO of the Elton John AIDS Foundation, praised the generosity of the audience: "I was upset by the support received from readers of L & # 39; Independent, the government and our supporters around the world. The shared stories have given a real window on what HIV is, how people live and fight this HIV, and why the stigma that it vehicle has to be relegated to history. The final total of the call, supported by Johnson & Johnson, includes: £ 1.5 million in funding from the Ministry of Health and over £ 655,000 matching funding from the UK's Aid Match program .
After the end of the call today, the latest donations from Aid Match will be verified by the Department of International Development.
Funds raised through donations from the public as part of the AIDSfree call will be used to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation's projects in six major cities around the world (London, Nairobi, Atlanta, Kiev, Delhi and Maputo). Thanks to UK Aid Match, the UK Government will double public donations of up to £ 2 million, which will be spent on projects in Maputo and Nairobi.
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