Prince Harry joins new AIDS campaign almost 40 years after Diana’s groundbreaking handshake
Prince Harry (L) has joined a new UNAIDS campaign. (Getty)
Prince Harry (L) has joined a new UNAIDS campaign. (Getty)
Prince Harry has joined Charlize Theron in a new AIDS campaign almost 40 years after princess Diana’s groundbreaking handshake with an AIDS patient.
At the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic in the 1980s, Prince Harry’s mother, Princess Diana, was one of the few public figures to visibly treat people living with HIV with compassion and humanity.
In 1987, she opened the first HIV/Aids unit at London’s Middlesex Hospital and, in front of the world’s press, shook hands with an HIV patient without wearing gloves – challenging the beliefs of some that the virus could be spread by day-to-day contact.
Prince Harry has now joined Charlize Theron, Magic Johnson and other celebrities in appearing in a short film, produced by Oscar-nominated writer Ron Nyswaner, that rallies for support for HIV/AIDS amid global cutbacks.
The UNAIDS project, which premiered Monday (22 September) at a United Nations assembly in New York, reiterates the aim of ending AIDS as a public health threat by 2030 and also featured HIV activists Fabian Quezada and Andiswa Cindi.
It follows US president Donald Trump making cuts to life-saving programs of the United States Agency for International Development or USAID. As a result of the cuts, UK LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall were forced to undergo an organisation-wide consultation that a spokesperson for the charity told PinkNews would result in redundancies.
‘Without urgent action, we risk reversing decades of progress’
In the film, Prince Harry states: “If funding is not restored, UNAIDS estimates it could lead to 4.2 million more unnecessary, preventable deaths.” His warning was echoed by Theron and HIV activist Cindi. “Without urgent action, we risk reversing decades of progress,” he continued.
The Duke of Sussex said in a statement: “Right now, babies are being born with HIV due to interruptions in antiretroviral treatment for their mothers. Without urgent action to reverse these crippling funding cuts, six million more people will become infected with HIV while four million will die from AIDS-related causes within the next four years. It is not just the at-risk communities that will be affected.
“We’ve proven that sustained investment saves lives and builds stronger communities. Abandoning this life-saving work now would be a devastating betrayal of progress and the millions who depend on these essential services.”
Theron added: “The end of AIDS is not a distant dream — it is within our grasp, built on decades of relentless activism, advocacy and shared commitment.
Nyswaner wrote 1993’s Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, which follows a young Philadelphia lawyer who is infected with AIDS and keeps his homosexuality hidden from his employers.
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