06/06/2026
Forty-five years after the beginning of the HIV epidemic, the conversation around HIV has changed—but the fight is far from over.
Today, advances in treatment, prevention, and education have transformed what is possible. People living with HIV can lead long, healthy lives, and tools like PrEP and U=U (Undetectable = Untransmittable) have reshaped prevention efforts. Yet stigma, misinformation, health disparities, and barriers to care continue to impact communities across the country and here in South Jersey.
At South Jersey AIDS Alliance, we remain committed to meeting people where they are with compassion, dignity, and evidence-based services. From HIV testing and prevention to harm reduction, case management, and supportive services, our work continues because the need continues.
As we reflect on 45 years of progress, we also recognize the work that lies ahead. Together, we can build a future where everyone has access to the care, support, and resources they need—and where HIV is no longer a public health threat. The conversation has changed. Our commitment has not.
Today is Long-Term HIV Survivors Day.
It is also 45 years since the beginning of what would become the AIDS pandemic.
For 45 years, our community has carried stories of courage, heartbreak, resilience, advocacy, and hope. We remember the early days of fear and uncertainty. We remember the friends, partners, family members, and community leaders we lost far too soon. We remember hospital rooms, funerals, protests, candlelight vigils, and a generation forced to fight for its own survival.
We have lived through stigma, discrimination, depression, isolation, and the trauma of watching entire circles of friends disappear. Many long-term survivors continue to navigate the lasting effects of HIV, aging, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, mental health challenges, and the emotional weight of decades of loss.
Yet we are still here.
We transformed grief into action. We demanded research, treatment, dignity, and justice. We fought for access to medications that evolved from handfuls of pills and difficult side effects to single-tablet regimens and long-acting injectable treatments. Scientific progress has changed what it means to live with HIV, but it was community advocacy that helped make that progress possible.
Today, we honor every long-term survivor. We honor those who did not live long enough to witness these advances. And we recommit ourselves to those who still face barriers to care, stigma, isolation, and inequity.
Forty-five years later, our fight continues.
For access.
For treatment.
For prevention.
For funding.
For research.
For dignity.
For every person living with HIV.
And ultimately, for the cure that our community has waited far too long to see.
Today we remember.
Today we celebrate survival.
Today we honor resilience.
And tomorrow, we keep fighting.
