“Let communities lead” was the theme of World AIDS Day, which this year fell on Friday, Dec. 1. Although AIDS deaths and HIV infection rates do not often lead news reports in 2023, that does not mean that HIV/ AIDS does not continue to impact people’s lives and our health care systems.

According to KFF, an independent source for health policy research, some 39 million people were living with HIV in 2022. Improved treatments are allowing people with HIV to live longer and a better understanding of how the disease can be prevented have lowered transmission rates, yet there were still about 1.3 million new infections in 2022, or about 3,500 for every day of the year.

Through December and into the new year, Virginia Commonwealth University will present opportunities to reflect on the AIDS crisis both nationally and in Richmond through exhibits on loan from The Valentine and the National Library of Medicine. There also is a companion exhibit from the Special Collections and Archives of VCU Health Sciences Library.

VCU’s MCV Campus has been involved in the care and treatment for people with HIV/ AIDS since the mid-1980s. VCU’s HIV/AIDS Clinic was founded to improve the health and social condition of persons living with HIV and to prevent the spread of the disease.

“We hope through dynamic programming and related ex- hibits we can encourage reflection, discovery, and awareness of how HIV/AIDS impacted the lives of many,” said the exhibit organizer Emily Hurst, deputy director and research and education department head for the university’s Health Sciences Library.

“The discovery of HIV/AIDS led to panic and concern for health care professions and patients. Today, through a variety of interventions, patients with HIV/AIDS can generally lead longer healthy lives,” Ms. Hurst added. “We hope that the display and related exhibits will serve as an important reminder about the many lives lost to HIV/AIDS as well as the work of dedicated health care professionals.”

The Health Sciences Library exhibit enables students and visitors to learn about the early stages of the AIDS crisis and reflect upon the political activism, stigma and community responses that emerged and co-existed while the medical community sought to save lives, according to exhibit organizers.

“Surviving and Thriving: AIDS, Politics and Culture,” an exhibit from the National Library of Medicine, will be on display in the library’s Special Collections and Archives Reading Room through Dec. 16. This traveling exhibit focuses on the AIDS epidemic that arose in the United States in the 1980s and the fear and confusion that arose with it.

“Voices from Richmond’s Hidden Epidemic,” an exhibit on loan from The Valentine, can be seen in the Health Sciences Library Gallery through Jan. 8.

Told through the voices of survivors, caregivers, activists and health care professionals, this project offers a distinct perspective on the epidemic in Richmond where the prevalence of HIV infection within the Black community is compounded by many factors including poverty, the elimination of sex ed programs in public schools and the ongoing opioid crisis.

“The AIDS Experience: Stories of Resilience,” is a companion exhibit that showcases materials from VCU Libraries’ collections documenting the Richmond AIDS experience.

It highlights the themes of “thriving and surviving” in the National Library of Medicine exhibit and will be on display in the Special Collections Reading Room through Jan. 26.