Exposures - lives lived in the shadows and light of an epidemic
A decade of progress by the IPPF Japan Trust Fund for HIV and AIDS

The photo exhibition ¡ÆExposures¡Ç brings into focus some of the human faces and powerful stories behind the often alarming HIV statistics.

In 2008, 33.4 million people were estimated to be living with HIV. Every ten minutes 38 people died of an AIDS-related illness. And 58 percent of people that require HIV treatments still do not have adequate access.

HIV tends to take the path of least resistance - through some of the world's poorest, most disadvantaged, and stigmatized communities. Addressing HIV thus requires a proactive response to poverty, gender inequality and social injustice. At the same time, tackling HIV is essential for reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

Since 1969, the Government of Japan has been supporting the international response for sexual and reproductive health through the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF). In 2009, the Japanese Government contributed over 11 million US dollars to the IPPF core budget. Moroever, it was one of the first donors to recognise the importance of linking sexual and reproductive health and HIV. To this end, the Government of Japan boldly set up the IPPF Japan Trust Fund for HIV and AIDS in 2000 and has supported 111 projects in 44 countries since then.

The series of stunning photographs in ¡ÆExposures¡Ç showcases the work of the IPPF Japan Trust Fund for HIV and AIDS, and some of the many lives it has touched in mostly Africa and Asia. We see how services are brought as close as possible to where people work and live, and reaching those on the margins of society. We see the resolve of local communities and the strength and realities of people living with HIV. But we also see the formidable challenge posed by stigma and discrimination.

Above all, ¡ÆExposures¡Ç shows us the collective gains we have made in tackling HIV, while highlighting the steep obstacles that remain if we are to halt and reverse this most human of epidemics.

¡ÆExposures¡Ç only reveals a glimpse of the work of IPPF and the IPPF Japan Trust Fund for HIV and AIDS. To discover more, please visit: www.ippf.org