What is done on World Aids Day?
Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2009 is ‘Universal Access and Human Rights’. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done. According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008 some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS.1 Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.2 The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. Sources: http://www.avert.org/world-aids-day.
World AIDS Day On this World AIDS Day public health officials are reminding everyone that while tremendous progress has been made, the fight against HIV/AIDS is far from over. More people are getting life-saving treatment for the disease and new AIDS infections are down 17 percent over the last eight years, according to UNAIDS. Nevertheless, there is still no vaccine and the epidemic continues to rage across the globe. Even here in the states, more than 1 million people are infected by the virus and 1 in 5 of them don’t know it, according to the CDC. In Maryland, an estimated 6,000 to 9,000 people have HIV and aren’t aware of it, according to the state health department. And so, the mantra among health officials: Get tested. Locally, health departments across the state are offering free testing and other events to mark the occasion. In Baltimore, a city that has been hit hard by AIDS, a candlelight vigil is planned for 7 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. For more
World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. It is common to hold memorials to honor persons who have died from HIV/AIDS on this day. Government and health officials also observe the event, often with speeches or forums on the AIDS topics. Since 1995, the President of the United States has made an official proclamation on World AIDS Day. Governments of other nations have followed suit and issued similar announcements. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007, and an estimated 33.2 million people worldwide live with HIV as of 2007, making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 2 million lives in 2007, of which about 270,000 were children. Sources:
