Why do people wear red ribbons to mark World AIDS Day?
The red ribbon is worn as a sign of support for people living with HIV. Wearing a red ribbon for World AIDS Day is a simple and powerful way to challenge the stigma and prejudice surrounding HIV and AIDS that prevents us from tackling HIV in the UK and internationally. The red ribbon has been an international symbol of AIDS awareness since 1991. The Red Ribbon Project was created by the New York based organisation Visual AIDS, which brought together artists to create a symbol of support for the growing number of people living with HIV in the US. The red ribbon is the result of collaboration between community artists who wanted to create a non-copyrighted image that could be used as an awareness-raising tool by people across the world. Why is HIV an issue in the UK? There are 90,000 people living with HIV in the UK and 20 people are newly diagnosed with HIV every day. The number of new HIV diagnoses every year has doubled since 1998. Yet despite rising numbers of people diagnosed, aware
