World AIDS Day 2015: The Time to Act Is Now

Dear Readers,

Today is the World AIDS Day. It is celebrated every year on 1st December. The purpose of celebrating this day is to create awareness and to diminish the ignorance towards the infected. This is the kind of disease that is not only killing the people out of infection, but also due to idnorance. So let us take a look at what this is all about. The theme for this year is "The Time To Act Is Now".

"It is bad enough that people are dying of Aids, but no one should die of ignorance."

– Elizabeth Taylor

World AIDS Day 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. 

"Stigma hurts. Because of Aids, children are bullied, isolated and shut out of school. They are missing out on education. They are missing out on medicines. Children are missing your love, care and protection. Join me. And become a stigma buster. UNITE FOR CHILDREN, UNITE AGAINST AIDS"

– Jackie Chan

Over 100,000 people are living with HIV in the UK. Globally there are an estimated 34 million people who have the virus. Despite the virus only being identified in 1984, more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

Today, 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. Despite this, each year in the UK around 6,000 people are diagnosed with HIV, people do not know the facts about how to protect themselves and others, and stigma and discrimination remain a reality for many people living with the condition.

World AIDS Day is important because 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.

"We live in a completely interdependent world, which simply means we cannot escape each other. How we respond to Aids depends, in part, on whether we understand this interdependence. It is not someone else's problem. This is everybody's problem."

– Bill Clinton

Although World AIDS Day is a great opportunity to talk about HIV, it is important to keep the momentum going all year round. Sign up to NAT's newsletter which will keep you up to date with all the new developments in HIV and the work of the National AIDS Trust, or visit our website, HIVaware, for more information.

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