When Nelson Mandela spoke at the International AIDS Conference in 2000 in South Africa, no one knew what the future held for the epidemic. 15 years later, the global AIDS response has been transformed.
Today is World AIDS Day. While 15 million people have been reached with AIDS treatment since Nelson Mandela’s speech, there is still much work to be done.
World AIDS Day is held on the 1st 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, held for the first time in 1988. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in the United States, more than 1.2 million people are living with HIV, and 1 in 8 of them don’t know it. Over the last decade, the annual number of new HIV diagnoses declined 19%. Today, World AIDS Day organizers say that lack of access to care remains the biggest barrier to overcome around the globe. While there is still no cure, effective treatment can control the virus so that people with HIV can enjoy healthy lives and reduce the risk of transmitting the virus to others.
Although World AIDS Day is a great opportunity to talk about HIV, it is important to keep the momentum going all year round.
Resources:
http://www.aids2016.org/Get-Involved/World-AIDS-Day
https://www.worldaidsday.org/
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/statistics/
https://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/hiv-aids-101/what-is-hiv-aids/
http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/documents/2016/AIDS-by-the-numbers
