WORLD AIDS DAY, 1st DECEMBER

About World AIDS Day

What is World AIDS Day?

World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year and is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died. World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988.

Why is World AIDS Day important?

Around 100,000 are currently living with HIV in the UK and globally an estimated 34 million people have HIV. More than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007 have died from the virus, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

Today, many scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, there are laws to protect people living with HIV and we understand so much more about the condition. But despite this, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others from HIV, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with HIV. World AIDS Day is important as it reminds the public and Government that HIV has not gone away – there is still a vital need to raise money, increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education.

What should I do on World AIDS Day?

World AIDS Day is an opportunity for you to learn the facts about HIV and put your knowledge into action. Find out how much you know by taking our online quiz: Are you HIV aware? Test your knowledge and awareness by taking the quiz and act aware by passing the quiz on and sharing it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.

If you understand how HIV is transmitted, how it can be prevented, and the reality of living with HIV today - you can use this knowledge to take care of your own health and the health of others, and ensure you treat everyone living with HIV fairly, and with respect and understanding. Click here to find out the facts.

You can also show your support for people living with HIV on World AIDS Day by wearing a red ribbon, the international symbol of HIV awareness.

World AIDS Day is also a great opportunity to raise money for NAT (National AIDS Trust) and show your support for people living with HIV. If you feel inspired to hold an event, bake sale or simply sell red ribbons,click here to get started. If you'd like to see what other events are taking place — click here and find out more.

But what about after World AIDS Day?

Although World AIDS Day is a great opportunity to get the public talking about HIV and fundraise, we need to remember the importance of raising awareness of HIV all year round. That's why NAT has launched HIVaware— a fun, interactive new website which provides all the information everyone should know about HIV. Why not use what you have learnt on World AIDS Day to Act Aware throughout the year and remember, you can fundraise at any time of year too — NAT is always here to give you suggestions and ideas.

Advances in AIDS treatment

Thirty years ago, the diagnosis of HIV/AIDS was widely seen as a death sentence. In developed countries, thanks to much research and widespread use of anti-viral treatment drugs since 1996, many people with HIV/AIDS can hope for an almost normal lifespan.

In other parts of the world, especially sub-Saharan Africa, HIV/AIDS still decimates populations and creates millions of orphans. According to the international HIV/AIDS charity AVERT, 1.2 million people in sub-Saharan Africa died of AIDS in 2010 and another 1.9 million became infected with HIV.

It is appropriate that the 19th International AIDS Conference convening today in Washington, D.C., chose as its theme "Turning the Tide Together." In a world as inter-related as ours, infectious disease cannot be confined to any village, country or continent. Many approaches must be used to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, and they must take into consideration vast differences in culture, wealth and education levels.

In the United States, for example, HIV/AIDS was initially noticed as a new and almost universally fatal illness of gay men. Thirty-one years and more than 30 million deaths later, the deadliest infectious disease in the world strikes men both gay and straight, women and children.

But the differences country to country are astounding.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, three-fourths of the people with an HIV diagnosis in the United States today are men, 74 percent of whom contracted the disease by having sex with other men.

But in sub-Saharan Africa, according to AVERT, 59 percent of the people with an HIV diagnosis are women. Among young people, 70 percent are female. Most were infected through heterosexual transmission.

"In many African countries, sexual relationships are dominated by men, meaning that women cannot always practice safer sex even when they know the risks involved," AVERT states on its website.

There is a belief among some African men that if they have sex with a virgin, it will "cure" their HIV/AIDS. There is often a reluctance to use condoms, or a shortage of them, factors of both cultural practices and poverty. AVERT promotes education as vital to the prevention of HIV/AIDS, something that has been resisted by some African governments until quite recently.

For developed countries, and to some degree the poorer ones, recent announcements will continue to make HIV/AIDS a more preventable, treatable disease. Last week the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first preventive drug for daily use by adults at high risk for sexual acquisition of HIV.

Trade named Truvada, it greatly reduces transmission of HIV between men having sex with other men as well as heterosexual men and women, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The guidelines for using what is called PrEP, short for pre-exposure prophylaxis, will be discussed at the AIDS Conference.

This month, the FDA also approved this month the first rapid home test for HIV diagnosis. The hope is that this will also result in people who test positive beginning treatment sooner.

David Margolis, an HIV researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, spoke about the probability of a cure for HIV/AIDS in an interview with Bloomberg.com earlier this year. "What people want to know is when can someone go to a doctor and be handed a pill and be cured," he said. "That's decades away. I think in 10 years someone with HIV infection could go to a specialist and get a complicated treatment and have some likelihood of a prolonged remission of their HIV."

It's rather like many people with cancer are treated today — no promise of a cure, but a reprieve from a quick death.

Among the many advances in HIV/AIDS since 1981 is the way it is perceived. The World AIDS Conference has not been held in the United States since 1990 because Congress passed a travel ban against HIV-positive people. That ban, a product of the unreasonable fear that characterized much of the first decade of the epidemic, was overturned by Congress in 2008.

In fact, CNN newsman Anderson Cooper, who recently "came out" as a gay man, was featured at a pre-conference party yesterday sponsored by the American Foundation for AIDS Research.

Good for him. Good for our country.

© 2012 Anderson Independent Mail. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.