Pia Wurtzbach: Help end discrimination

Former Miss Universe and UNAIDS Asia-Pacific goodwill ambassador Pia Wurtzbach has called on the public to help end discrimination as the world observed Zero Discrimination Day last March 1.

"It is an opportunity to celebrate everyone’s right to live a full and productive life with dignity—no matter what they look like, where they come from or who they love," said Wurtzbach on Instagram.

The Filipino-German beauty queen added: "Let’s come together to end discrimination and celebrate diversity, tolerance and inclusion."

March 1 is Zero Discrimination Day, an annual worldwide event that promotes diversity and recognizes that everyone counts.

It was on March 1, 2014 when the United Nations first celebrated Zero Discrimination Day after UNAIDS, a UN program on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), launched its Zero Discrimination Campaign on World AIDS Day in December 2013.

Organizations like the UN actively promote the day with various activities to celebrate everyone’s right to live a full life with dignity regardless of age, gender, sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, skin color, height, weight, profession, education, and beliefs, according to timeanddate.com.

Many countries have laws against discrimination but it's still a problem in all layers of society in every country in the world. Many countries have and still use discrimination as a way of governing.

The symbol for Zero Discrimination Day is the butterfly, widely used by people to share their stories and photos as a way to end discrimination and work towards positive transformation.

Wurtzbach was named Goodwill Ambassador of the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Asia-Pacific on May 3, 2017.

"I will use my voice, my social media following (for this advocacy). People who are following me right now, at least when they look at me, they'll know that (I am) advocating for HIV/AIDS," she said.

Wurtzbach has a huge following among the youth and the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) LGBT groups.

The campaign against HIV AIDS has become one of the major advocacies of the Miss Universe Organization.

Wurtzbach has repeatedly appealed to the public to know their HIV status by testing.

She revealed that one in every eight people with HIV does not know his or her HIV status.

“Which means, some individuals are not receiving the attention and care that they need and deserve to stay healthy and avoid risking others,” Wurtzbach said.

In June 2016, Wurtzbach was negative for HIV when she underwent testing in the US during the National HIV Testing Day .

“Start talking and stop the spread of HIV. Take that first step. Take control. Get tested. Know your status. The risk is not knowing,” she added. - ROBERT REQUINTINA