Monday, December 01, 2008

Worlds AIDS Day, 2008

Today is World AIDS Day, and the official website has a great deal to offer in terms of information, opportunities for activism, events, and other ways to get involved.

With 33 million people living with HIV worldwide, World AIDS Day is now in its 21st year and was actually the first international health day commemorating a particular disease. While World AIDS Day in the UK has chosen the theme of "Respect and Protect" for this year, the theme chosen by the global movement appears to be "Leadership", based on their website.

Regardless of thematics, everyone involved seems to agree that there are certain aspects of the fight that necessitate further concerted action on a global scale as governments around the world pledged today to increase funding for treatment, to fight discrimination, and to increase testing.

And in China, where up to 700,000 individuals are said to be infected but only 260,000 are officially recognized as having the disease, the fight against stigma is an uphill battle only newly begun.

The global effort is still in full swing, and it seems to receive a needed boost every year on December 1st. Thank you to all of the individuals and organizations that keep that torch burning year-round.

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