World AIDS Day

 Essential topics  > Human growth and development  > Sexual anatomy and physiology  > Family life, marriage, long-term commitment and interpersonal relationships  > Society, culture and sexuality: values, attitudes, social norms and the media in relation to sexuality  > Reproduction  > Gender equality and gender roles  > Sexual abuse/resisting unwanted or coerced sex  > Condoms  > Sexual behaviour (sexual practices, pleasure and feelings)  > Transmission and prevention of sexually transmitted infections  Desirable topics  > Pregnancy and childbirth  > Contraception other than condoms  > Gender-based violence and harmful practices/rejecting violence  > Sexual diversity  > Sources for sexual and reproductive health services/seeking services  > Other content related to sexual and reproductive health/sexuality education

Essential topics  > Transmission of HIV  > Prevention of HIV: practicing safer sex, including condom use  > Treatment of HIV  Desirable topics  > HIV-related stigma and discrimination  > Sources of counselling and testing services; seeking counselling, treatment, care and support  > Other HIV and AIDS-related specific content Source: Measuring the education sector response to HIV and AIDS—guidelines for the construction and use of core indicators. Paris: UNESCO; 2013.  UNESCO has developed a set of “essential” and “desirable” topics of a life skills-based HIV and sexuality education programme. The essential topics are those that have the greatest direct impact on HIV prevention, while desirable topics are those that have an indirect impact on HIV prevention but are important as part of an overall sexuality education programme

HIV-sensitive social protection enables people living with HIV and other vulnerable populations to access services together with the rest of the population; this prevents the exclusion of groups. HIV-sensitive social protection is the preferred approach as it avoids the stigmatization that can be caused by focusing exclusively on HIV. Approaches to HIVsensitive social protection include the following: financial protection through predictable transfers of cash, food or other commodities for people affected by HIV and those who are most vulnerable; access to affordable quality services, including treatment, health and education services; and policies, legislation and regulation to meet the needs (and uphold the rights) of the most vulnerable and excluded people. Source: UNAIDS terminology guidelines  2015.

 Young people are people aged 15–24 years (as per the Global AIDS Response Progress Reporting System indicators). Source: Global AIDS response progress reporting , 2015. (accessed 25 September 2015).  WHO identifies adolescence as the period in human growth and development that occurs after childhood and before adulthood, from ages 10 to 19 years. Source: Adolescent development: a critical transition. In WHO ( accessed 25 September 2015)

 Key populations, or key populations at higher risk, are groups of people who are more likely to be exposed to HIV or transmit it and whose engagement is critically important for a successful HIV response. In all countries, key populations include people living with HIV. In most settings, men who have sex with men, transgender people, people who inject drugs and sex workers and their clients are at higher risk of exposure to HIV than other groups. However, each country should define the specific populations that are key to their epidemic and response based on the epidemiological and social context. UNAIDS considers gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers and their clients, transgender people and people who inject drugs as the four main key population groups. These populations often suffer from punitive laws or stigmatizing policies, and they are among the most likely to be exposed to HIV. Their engagement is critical to a successful HIV response everywhere—they are...