The AIDS pandemic has taken the lives of over 25 million people, while about 33 million people continue to live with the disease. In the year of 2007 alone, more than two million people died due to causes related to AIDS, with 330,000 of these people being children. The majority of these deaths occurred in sub-Saharan Africa, but thousands of people die each year in the United States alone due to the disease. Treatments can slow the progression of AIDS, but there is currently no vaccine or cure. As it stands, AIDS is primarily treated using antiretroviral medications that allow AIDS sufferers a better quality of life, but access to these medications is often very difficult due to the fact that they can be very expensive and not every country has a supply of the medications. One of the biggest issues facing many AIDS victims, though, is a lack of understanding on the part of those who do not have AIDS, which is the primary reason for World AIDS Day. On December 1st, World AIDS Day takes place in order to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is primarily responsible for causing AIDS. Although AIDS has been around since the beginning of the 20th century, it was only discovered in 1983 by French scientist Luc Montagnier. The origin of HIV is hotly contested and nobody knows for sure how the virus came to exist, but the consensus in the scientific community is that non-human primates, in some way or another, passed along a form of SIV, simian immunodeficiency virus, which eventually mutated into HIV. Two version of the virus exist: HIV-1 is more virulent, easily spread, and remains the culprit in the majority of AIDS cases across the world, while HIV-2 is less transmissible and is mostly present in West Africa.
Because of the nature of the virus, HIV does not randomly appear in anybody: through various forms of bodily interaction, HIV spreads from one person to the next. The majority of HIV infections are acquired through unprotected sexual intercourse. When one partner is infected with HIV, the virus can pass itself along to the other partner through the secreted bodily fluids, potentially infecting the other partner. Any form of sexual intercourse that involves transmission of bodily fluid can potentially transmit HIV from one partner to the other, which means that using latex condoms is heavily recommended to those involved in sexual practices. Even then, the risk is only reduced by 85%, making abstinence the only way to positively avoid transmitting the virus. A popular misconception remains that only homosexual males are affected by AIDS, but heterosexual intercourse is one of the leading causes of HIV transmission. Regardless of age, gender, or sexual orientation, the risk of becoming infected with HIV during unprotected sexual intercourse is very real, especially if neither partner has been tested for the presence of HIV, or if either partner is aware of having HIV but does not tell the other partner.
When AIDS was discovered in 1983, it had already been around for several decades but scientists were not yet able to classify the disease. Once the cause of AIDS had been determined and the severity of the condition was understood, the next step for those concerned with the disease was to raise global awareness. The concept behind World AIDS Day originated in 1988 at the World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programs for AIDS Prevention. Since then, many governments around the world have championed the cause, providing many opportunities for the general public to learn about the condition and take action within their communities. From the inception of the program to 2004, UNAIDS, or the Joint United Nations Program on HIV and Aids, was responsible for organizing the World AIDS Day events, but since 2005, the responsibility has been that of the World AIDS Campaign. Before the World AIDS Campaign took over, each year had a special World AIDS Day theme, but since 2005, the theme has been “Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise”, a theme that will last until 2010. Every year, a more specific tagline is chosen, but until 2010, the general theme of World AIDS Day is to be aware of AIDS and to not spread it through unknowing sexual transmission.
Those who would like to prepare an event for World AIDS Day are encouraged to visit the World AIDS Campaign’s website. On the front page of the site, there is a list of ideas to help those who are looking to do something for World AIDS Day, including links to World AIDS Day materials for 2008, an International World Aids Day Calendar on which people are invited to mark their events for the day, information on various campaigns around the world, and a summary of World AIDS Days in years past. One of the biggest focuses of World AIDS Day activists is the G8 Summit, which will be hosted in 2009 by Italy. There, several of the world’s most populous and prosperous countries gather in order to discuss issues that are important to the global community, such as global warming. In the context of World AIDS Day, though, the G8 Summit is very important because the more that the global community is aware of AIDS, especially the community of the nations that have the means to do something about the AIDS crisis, the more chance that those suffering from AIDS will see relief. For that reason, the fight against AIDS does not begin with World AIDS Day; rather, the point of World AIDS Day is to bring awareness to the global community so that leaders around the world can help to solve the AIDS crisis.
The World AIDS Campaign’s website also has a section devoted to in-country campaigns all across the world. This is a great way to see what is going on in your country so that if you choose to become involved in the fight against AIDS, you have the chance to do something. For example, people living in the United States can attend the New York City Event at St. Bartholemew’s Church, or any of many events held throughout the country. If there is no event in your area but you are passionate about the cause, there is always the option of downloading the World AIDS Day materials on the World AIDS Campaign’s website in order to spread the word on your own. Since AIDS has spread all across the globe and does not discriminate between age, gender, or sexual orientation, the fight against AIDS is not limited to any part of the world. Even a contaminated blood transfusion can lead to AIDS, something that is completely out of the control of the victim and can potentially occur in anyone receiving a blood transfusion that is not sufficiently checked out. For that reason, those that have AIDS should not be ostracized or scorned as long as we understand how AIDS is transmitted and what we can do to prevent the chance of AIDS spreading. World AIDS Day is a time to dispel the myths about AIDS and to help get something positive accomplished for AIDS sufferers everywhere.
