As we approach the APCOM HERO Awards 2025, I’ve been reflecting deeply on what this platform means—not just for those of us who receive an award, but for our entire community across Asia and the Pacific.
Back in 2021, I was humbled to be named the HIV Hero at these prestigious awards. It was a moment that shifted something for me. Recently, APCOM invited me to share a few words on why this recognition matters, and I wanted to share that message here with you all.
A Lifeline in the Struggle
Activism is often a lonely and exhausting road. In my video message, I spoke from the heart about the reality many of us face daily:
“The HERO Award is a lifeline for activists like me who face threats, burnout, and systems designed to break our spirit. This recognition is a powerful message of hope. It’s a reminder that our community is strong. Our fight for dignity and life is seen and valued across the world.”
The HERO Awards celebrate those who dedicate their lives to making a difference—inspiring hope, equality, and change for LGBTQI+ communities and people living with HIV. But for those of us on the ground, it is more than a celebration.
When you are fighting systems that constantly try to erase you or deny your humanity, “burnout” doesn’t quite capture the exhaustion. It is a spiritual fatigue. Receiving the HIV Hero Award was a reminder that we are seen. It validated that our fight for dignity is not happening in a vacuum; it is valued globally.
To all the nominees and future laureates of 2025: know that your work is the heartbeat of our movement. This recognition is your armor and your reminder that you are not alone.
Contributor: Ali Raza Khan HIV HERO Award recipient 2021
Ali Raza Khan is a young HIV positive gay activist from Pakistan working for the community since 2015, focused on SRHR, HIV, AIDS prevention and peace. He has worked with multiple local, national and international organizations for the rights of people living with HIV, men having sex with men and gays. As a founder of Pride Pakistan, he is currently working for men having sex with men gay and other queer communities in Pakistan. He is serving as member Communities’ delegation to the board of the Global Fund, member UNAIDS Advisory Group on Monitoring the 30-80-60 targets and co-lead partnership in The PACT. He is the winner of the HIV HERO Award 2021 by APCOM.
What is the situation of people living with HIV in your country?
People living with HIV in Pakistan are facing enormous challenges due to slow progress towards reducing stigma and discrimination during treatment when visiting health care facilities. People from the group of men having sex with men and gay community have to face it in a worse way as they have to get denial of treatments, discrimination from health care providers when accessing their HIV health care services. On a daily basis, the special HIV clinics councilors rather than providing counseling on HIV treatment use derogatory remarks each time any HIV positive individual from MSM and gay community visits them. Due to denial of treatment to HIV community members, I estimate hundreds of community members have died so far. Apart from this, many other community members are unable to bear stigma and psychological torture from government health care facilities resulting in increase in lost to follow up.
It not only is coming from health care providers only, but also from work spaces, society and other day to day interactions. We are seeing even key population members held in prison being raped and killed.
1. It becomes more traumatizing for gay community and male sex workers that are unable to openly show their identities in public forums online due to torture and arrest from security agencies torturing gay people on online gay platforms and on ground.
On the other hand, there are increases in new HIV cases due to deteriorating health care systems and pressure on healthcare facilities. Quack doctors also contribute to this along with societal practices. We see new and new outbreaks of HIV infections in the general public. Such as a few days ago in Multan home town hospital dozens of kidney patients got HIV during negligence in dialysis treatment.
2. Overall there is huge societal stigma and discrimination based on criminalizing laws all contributing towards increased cases of HIV infections in MSM and gay community. That is why I believe decriminalization of the same sex and gay community is the only solution to curb the new HIV infections and achieve 95 95 95 targets.
What and how are you/your organization doing to address these challenges?
We are working on empowering the community by raising awareness around men having sex with men and gay community issues and providing capacity building training around their health and rights. We have been organizing focus groups discussions, safe space gathering and capacity building sessions benefiting thousands of people so far.
We are doing advocacy online and offline for the rights of men having sex with men and gay people. We are working with partners globally to use diplomatic voice and influence to work around decriminalization. It is important to bring the voice of gay community members to the spotlight and in visibility that never gets highlighted, despite the fact that men having sex with men and gay people are one of the most vulnerable key populations.
What support do you/your organization need?
With decreasing funding for community work and restrictions and crack down by authorities for organizations working for men having sex with men, gay and queer communities, it is becoming difficult for gay organizations to operate. Our organization is also struggling with sustainable funds for the running cost of our functions and salaries. Making most of our members working on a volunteer basis. We need essential running costs to ensure uninterrupted work for our Pride Pakistan community.
Anything else you wish to add?
I believe the work we are doing for capacity building and empowerment of men having sex with men and gay people is difficult with a lot of hurdles coming ahead on our way but we will continue to do so because that is the right path. I wish one day other stakeholders and the government will also be able to take that right path. If you want to support my work feel free to reach me through AliRazakhan.com
Read the article on Asia Pacific Coalition of Men Having Sex with Men APCOM Website Here
Munich, Germany – The AIDS 2024 conference will feature a pivotal session titled “From Ruin to Resilience: Harnessing Community Strength in the Face of Natural Disasters,” highlighting the critical intersection of climate change and public health. This scientific symposium, accredited for Continuing Medical Education (CME), will take place on July 25, 2024, from 15:00 to 16:00 local time in Room 13a for in-person participation and on Channel 6 for virtual attendees.
Spotlight on Ali Raza Khan
One of the key speakers for this session is Ali Raza Khan, an HIV-positive gay activist from Multan, Pakistan. Khan is the founder of PridePakistan.org and co-lead of TheYouthPACT.org. His work focuses on advocating for the rights and health of marginalized communities, particularly those affected by HIV and climate change.
Session Overview
Moderated by Mary Ann Torres from ICASO, the session will delve into the dire impacts of emergencies caused by pandemics, war, the climate crisis, and other catastrophic events on vulnerable and marginalized communities. The discussion will cover a range of critical issues, including:
Continuity of Care: Ensuring ongoing care for children and young people born with HIV.
Access Disruptions: Addressing interruptions in HIV prevention, testing, and treatment services.
Challenges for Migrants and Refugees: Highlighting the specific difficulties faced by these groups.
Increased Vulnerability to Co-Infections: Focusing on diseases such as diarrhoea, lung infections, and TB.
Impact of Food and Water Shortages: Examining how these shortages increase vulnerability to illness.
Inequalities in Social Protection: Discussing disparities in access to social safety nets.
Risk of Violence and Exploitation: Addressing the heightened risk of violence and exploitation in crisis situations.
Gender Inequality and Gender-Based Violence: Exploring the exacerbation of these issues during emergencies.
Forced HIV Testing of Migrants: Highlighting the ethical and health implications.
Funding Challenges: Discussing the impact of dwindling resources in the face of multiple crises.
Ali Raza Khan will share insights from his extensive work in Pakistan, where he has witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of climate change on communities living with HIV. His presentation will focus on the resilience and strength of these communities in the face of natural disasters. Khan will highlight the innovative strategies employed by community organizations to mitigate the impacts of climate change, such as plantation projects and collaborations with stakeholders to ensure inclusive efforts for those living with HIV.
Other Speakers
The session will also feature contributions from:
Juddy Otti from the Africa Advocacy Foundation, United Kingdom
Sophia Charles from Caris Foundation International, United States
These speakers will provide a global perspective on the challenges and solutions related to the health of vulnerable communities during emergencies.
Ali Raza Khan’s participation in this session underscores the importance of community-led initiatives and the need for global solidarity in addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by natural disasters and other crises. His work with Pride Pakistan and The Youth PACT exemplifies the power of resilience and the critical role of advocacy in safeguarding the health and rights of marginalized populations.
My name is Ali Raza Khan and I’m a 28-year-old PLHIV activist working for my community. I live in Multan, a small but culturally rich town of Pakistan also known as the City of Saints. I come from a poor family living in the red-light area of the town that led me to adopt risky behaviors without protection. I grew up facing stigma and discrimination because of my identity, status and being from a minority group. Because of my status and identity, I faced bad times when trying to access health services or for exercising my rights. Facing and dealing with these bad times encouraged me to work for my community that is still suffering around Pakistan. I always look for opportunities to learn, catch positive skills and knowledge from other expert people, or try to learn new things on my own. I’m doing all this to empower other PLHIVs so that that they can also raise voices for their health and rights collectively.
Please briefly let us know about your work
I started working for HIV awareness and prevention in 2015 from my university days as volunteer of HYPE national youth group of Rutgers in Pakistan. I continued my volunteer work for the community along with different organizations including FDI, Aahung, ACT, ISYD, YAN, KSS and APLHIV. I started my full-time job for PLHIV withTrans Welfare Organization, a CBO working for HIV among the TG community. TWOCBO provided me the opportunity to speak about the PLHIV community. Later, I joined Wasaib Sanwaro, a CBO working for MSM and amplified my efforts by representing PLHIVs at international platforms. I started my own initiative “Hi Voices” due to the lack of any dedicated platform for the empowerment of YPLHIVs and because many PLHIVs lack the required skills and knowledge to raise their voices. Currently, at national level, I’m organizing capacity building training for YPLHIVs under the Young Positive People of Pakistan Program. Apart from these efforts I’m empowering PLHIVs at the regional and global level with The PACT and YPEER. I’m also trying to influence stakeholders and policy making via Youth LEAD and as a member of Communities Delegation to the board of The Global Fund.
What one achievement you’ve accomplished that you’re most proud of
I’m proud of training other PLHIVs who wanted to raise their voices. One of our alumni participated in our capacity building training and was volunteering in our campaigns all the time. He contacted me and said he learned a lot from my organization and is going to start a platform related to PLHIVs issues. It was the moment when I felt that I may be succeeding in my mission to empower other PLHIVs. I am proud of him and his work because I dedicated my time to PLHIVs with the only one objective of empowering them.
What do you find most challenging about your work
Working for PLHIVs in a conservative humanitarian setting of Pakistan was most challenging. It is still challenging because a PLHIV activist must face multiple obstructions every day. One does not only struggle with the issues that he or she is working for, but also struggles with society, norms, policies and opposition that stops others from accessing and practicing their basic health and rights. These things make my efforts and work more challenging in a conservative humanitarian setting of Pakistan.
What do you do to recharge your battery
I connect with people from the PLHIV community and spend time with them. I share and talk with people who are working for a similar cause. I get re-energized when I work for the PLHIV community in a way that saves their life. I listen to the stories of people how they were able to bring some positive change in the lives of PLHIVs. I try to make them happy and smile. A smile and happiness on their faces brings smile on my face too.
What is your vulnerability and how do you overcome it
I sometimes indulge into things related to the PLHIV community and I forget to make sufficient time available for myself and my family. I try to overcome this be ensuring specific days and specific times dedicated to my family and community work. Also scheduling my work helps me overcome this issue.
What was your reaction to being named one of the honourees for the HIV Hero category
I felt happy to be nominated for the HIV HERO award. I see this as an appreciation and encouragement to continue my work for the community, irrespective of how harsh the conditions on the ground are. I felt excited about this award because there are very few people and platforms to support and appreciate the work of PLHIVs as HERO Award is doing.
Despite the fact that the COVID-19 is still with us, what is a message that you would like to share with the communities in the Asia Pacific
We learned a lot from the COVID-19 crisis, including supporting each other and the marginalized communities. Together we learned how to fight these pandemics and find the cure and access to treatment for all, irrespective of power gaps. My message to all the communities in Asia and the Pacific is to work collectively to end discrimination associated with people affected by diseases.
Read more on Asia Pacific Coalition of Men Having Sex with Men APCOM
