Community Health Charities of Florida - December 2011

World AIDS Day, observed on December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.  Community Health Charities joins amfAR this year in raising awareness of this serious health issue.

•        An estimated 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV, yet one out of five don’t know it. Worldwide, 33 million people live with HIV/AIDS – 2.5 million of them are under the age of 15.

•        Since the start of the AIDS epidemic in 1981, 1.7 million Americans have been infected with HIV and more than 600,000 have died of AIDS.  Worldwide, more than 60 million have contracted HIV and nearly 30 million have died of HIV related causes.

•        Every day more than 7,000 people contract HIV – that’s nearly 300 every hour.

AIDS is a condition that results from damage done to the human immune system by HIV. It affects tens of millions of people around the world. The United Nations' (UN) World AIDS Day is held on December 1 each year to honor the victims of the AIDS pandemic and to focus attention on the prevention and treatment of HIV and AIDS-related conditions.

HIV can only be transmitted between people through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid. Hence, there has been a lot of stigma around the spread of HIV and people living with HIV and AIDS. It has been estimated that around 33 million people around the world have been infected with HIV and that around two million people die from AIDS-related conditions each year. On October 27, 1988, the UN General Assembly officially recognized that the World Health Organization declared December 1, 1988, to be World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day has been observed on this date each year since then.

World AIDS Day is the focal point of the World AIDS Campaign, which is active all year long. During the days and weeks leading up to World AIDS Day, there is often a lot of coverage of the condition in the media and fundraising for AIDS and HIV-related charities. In addition, health education campaigns aiming to reduce the transmission of HIV and discrimination of people living with HIV and AIDS are often launched on or around December 1.

On World AIDS Day, many community, national and international leaders issue proclamations on supporting and treating people living with HIV and AIDS and stimulating research into the treatment of these conditions. Local communities may hold events to remember and honor members who have died of AIDS-related conditions or exhibitions around the subject. A particularly well-known example is the AIDS Memorial Quilt. This project allows friends or family members of a person who has died of AIDS to construct a quilt panel. The panels are then exhibited all over the United States.

If you want to learn how to talk to your children about HIV/AIDS, click here to view the Health Matters at Work® video podcast. 

For more information about HIV/AIDS, please visit www.amfAR.org.

Source: amFAR