The year 2023 marks 40 years since the discovery of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. In recognition of this important milestone, Friends of the Global Fund, Japan (FGFJ) is collaborating with a public theater in Tokyo to put on a Japanese production of the Broadway award-winning play, The Inheritance, in February 2024. The play focuses on three generations of gay people living with HIV. 

As a lead-in to this important work, and as a commemoration of World AIDS Day 2023, FGFJ will hold a public seminar in Tokyo on November 30. The event will bring together the lead actor of the play along with HIV experts from Japan and abroad and representatives of the HIV community to shed light on HIV, gender, and LGBTQ+ issues and also raise awareness about Japan’s engagement with the Global Fund. Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim of CAPRISA, South Africa, a renowned researcher in HIV prevention among young women will be featured as a special guest speaker.

The seminar will include three sessions. The first will cover HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ+ issues in Japan and other regions of Asia. Session 2 will cover issues related to HIV/AIDS among vulnerable populations, particularly focusing on the status and challenges of HIV prevention in adolescent girls and young women in Africa. The final panel will consist of representatives from CSOs, the Japanese government, and international organizations who have been engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Japan and abroad. Panelists will review the lessons learned over the years, discuss what is needed to end the HIV/AIDS pandemic and prevent another pandemic from occurring, and consider what each of us can do to contribute. 

For more information about this event, please visit the FGFJ website. To register, please click the button below.