Harnessing the Power and Promise of Human Rights to End AIDS by 2030

The HIV epidemic and response are at a critical juncture. Our advances against the epidemic have been impressive, with unprecedented numbers of people accessing antiretroviral treatment, especially in lowand middle-income countries, and a global reduction in new HIV infections. However, the epidemic is not over, and the challenges ahead are significant. More than 15.8 million people are still awaiting treatment, while an estimated 11 million people do not know their HIV status. Globally, adolescent girls and young women account for approximately 7,000 new HIV infections every week. These figures represent an indefensible injustice: millions of people worldwide are being denied their right to health. Common to these challenges are stigma, discrimination, gender inequality, denial of services, violence, and human rights violations against people living with HIV and those most vulnerable to the epidemic, including women, young people, sex workers, prisoners, people who use drugs, transgender persons, and gay men and men who have sex with men. In all regions, and regardless of the nature and level of the epidemic, vulnerability to HIV is linked to inequality and disenfranchisement; and women and those at the margins of society remain underserved by health services, including HIV prevention, treatment, care, and support services. This special section of Health and Human Rights comes at an opportune moment to describe and reflect on our progress to realize human rights as an imperative for health. It allows us to reflect on how, in the past decades, the AIDS epidemic has transformed our understanding of the structural, legal, and social determinants of health and the approaches to address them. The epidemic has also revealed the power of those living with and affected by the disease, who came together to break the conspiracy of silence, challenge exclusion in access to treatment, and demand the protection of human rights. It comes at a time when we are facing unprecedented challenges that curtail efforts against exclusion and marginalization—including growing conservatism, contestation of multilateralism and the rule of law, and shrinking of civil society space. The power of mobilization from our shared history tells us that today’s challenges can and must be overcome. As the contributions in this section remind us, we have a transformative global agenda for sustainable development grounded in social justice and the rule of law that sets a vision for ending the AIDS epidemic as a public health threat by 2030. We have powerful scientific and medical tools, and innovative