ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has called for changing public attitudes and strengthening health systems in Pakistan to stem the spread of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) disease, as the international community marks World AIDS Day today, Monday. 

Every year on Dec. 1, the international community marks World AIDS Day to raise awareness about AIDS and help prevent the disease from spreading further. This year, the World Health Organization (WHO) is joining partners and communities around the globe to commemorate World AIDS Day 2025 under the theme ‘Overcoming disruption, transforming the AIDS response.’

According to the WHO, an estimated 40.8 million people are living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) around the world, 610 000 of whom live in the Eastern Mediterranean Region where the number of annually estimated new infections has almost doubled in less than a decade, rising from 37,000 in 2016 to 72,000 in 2024. As per the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP), an estimated 0.33 million people are living with HIV in Pakistan while 81,847 people know of their HIV status as of September 2025.

“Changing public attitudes and responses toward this illness is extremely important,” Sharif said in a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). “In this context, ensuring access to treatment, adopting modern facilities, and enhancing cooperation at the community level— so that all segments of society are reached— can help transform public response to this disease.”

The Pakistani prime minister said that the HIV epidemic, while testing the effectiveness and performance of health systems around the world, also reminds one of the need to develop comprehensive strategies to combat it and strengthen the health system further. 

He said that protection of health is a fundamental civil right and providing facilities for disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care is among the government’s priorities. However, he said addressing stigma associated with and ending discrimination against affected individuals requires collective effort.

“Only through compassionate attitudes, innovation in the health system and investment in its improvement can we strengthen, broaden, and enhance our response to HIV,” he added. 

He said the government’s priority measures for ending AIDS include improving treatment access for high-risk groups, eliminating gender-based discrimination, preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, ensuring safe blood for patients and reducing its spread among people who use drugs.

“Let us unite with compassion and hope for an AIDS-free Pakistan, so that every individual may enjoy a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life,” the prime minister concluded.