National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Date in the current year: April 10, 2024

The first described case of AIDS was clinically observed in the United States in 1981, and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was discovered two years later. This means that today’s young adults are the first generation to have never lived in a world without HIV and AIDS.

According to statistics, young people aged 13 to 24 make up about one fifth of new HIV diagnoses in the United States, with racial and ethnic minority groups being disproportionately affected. As of 2019, the percentage of people engaging in HIV risk behaviors was the highest among people aged 18 to 24 (data for people aged 17 or younger was not available). Young people living with HIV are the least likely among all age groups to receive proper care in a timely manner and have an undetectable viral load.

National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has been observed every April 10 since 2013. It is directed by Advocates for Youth, a Washington-based nonprofit organization that advocates for young people’s right to bodily autonomy and sexual health. Its programs focus on sex education, STI and HIV prevention, teen pregnancy prevention, youth access to contraception and abortion, and equality for LGBTQIA+ youth.

Like most HIV/AIDS awareness days in the United States, NYHAAD is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and HIV.gov (formerly AIDS.gov), a federal internet portal for domestic HIV and AIDS resources, as well as by HIV/AIDS awareness organizations, hospitals and support groups across the nation.

The main goals of the NYHAAD campaign are to reduce the stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, promote sex education that includes accurate information about HIV, encourage HIV testing and prevention among young people, and ensure access to PrEP, PEP, HIV treatment and care, and other HIV services without parental consent.

How can you get involved with NYHAAD? You can educate yourself about HIV and its impact on young people, participate in one of the events and activities held by Advocates for Youth and their partners, host an awareness event or a day of HIV testing at a local community center or on campus, donate to or volunteer at an organization that helps HIV-positive young adults and their families, and spread awareness on social media using the hashtags #NYHAAD, #youthHIV and #StopHIVTogether.

National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is one of many national HIV awareness days observed in the United States. Other awareness days that raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in groups that are disproportionately affected by the virus include National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National Transgender HIV Testing Day, National Asian and Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day.