Voices of hope: photo stories from communities affected by HIV/AIDS.

29 November 2005

A set of 13 photo stories of people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America has been released by the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the World Health Organization and Christian Aid.

The stories include powerful images by Gideon Mendel, a well-known contemporary photo journalist, who documented community action on HIV and AIDS in collaboration with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and Don McCullin, one of the world’s leading photo journalists, who worked with Christian Aid.

In the photos by Gideon Mendel, people living with HIV and AIDS show that they are not just victims of misfortune, but a key part of the response to stop the spread and devastation of HIV/AIDS.

"These stories are full of compassion and courage and explain why and how, ordinary people can make a difference. They show why more support needs to be channelled to community responses," says Alvaro Bermejo, Executive Director of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance.

“They show people making a huge difference with very little support, and help us all understand what works in each community. They are the living proof that it can be done.”

Don McCullin recorded the destruction of lives and families decimated by HIV/AIDS in South Africa and Zambia. Some images, however, deliver a message of hope, of lives regained thanks to access to HIV treatment.

The World Health Organization, together with its international and national partners is working towards universal access to HIV/AIDS treatment, care and prevention. "These photos show us the real faces of HIV, the devastation it causes, and the reason why global commitment and action should be sustained," said Dr Jim Kim, HIV/AIDS Director of the World Health Organization.

View the photo stories at www.who.int/hiv.