Press Release

Olia Tira: “Meetings with women living with HIV across the country have demonstrated me that they are beautiful, bright, and triumphant”

18 April 2017

  • Every year, on the 1st of March worldwide, people are commemorating Zero Discrimination Day. This is yet another occasion to call people to tolerance, acceptance, dignity, inclusion and respect.

On this occasion, UNAIDS urges everyone to make some noise for #zerodiscrimination because each of us can be part of the transformation and take a stand for a fair and just society.

During the campaign, Olia Tira new UNAIDS Goodwill Ambassador in Moldova participated in a series of meetings with HIV-positive women to discuss and better understand the problems they face at home, at work or in society.

“Meetings with women living with HIV across the country have demonstrated to me that they are bright, beautiful and triumphant. These women helped to understand that the major problems they face are the discriminatory attitudes towards them of their relatives and other people. My message is that despite of the HIV status, skin color, social status or length of the nose, the most valuable is life in all its diversity and personal individualities” Olia Tira, Goodwill Ambassador for UNAIDS Moldova.

Also, one of the objectives relates to accelerating efforts on the elimination of HIV transmission from mother to child. This kind of meetings were held at the Regional Social Centers in Chisinau, Tiraspol, Comrat and Balti, and one more is scheduled on March, 10th  at the women's prison in Rusca.

“Not being discriminated is a right that must be respected, guaranteed and each person has to enjoy it!” Svetlana Plamadeala, Country Manager, UNAIDS Moldova.

Zero discrimination is an integral part of UNAIDS’ vision and for this year’s Zero Discrimination Day UNAIDS is calling for zero discrimination in health-care settings. The right to health is a fundamental human right that includes access to affordable, timely and quality health-care services for all, yet discrimination remains widespread in health-care settings, creating a serious barrier to access to HIV services.

UN entities involved in this initiative

UNAIDS
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS

Goals we are supporting through this initiative