Fighting the Pandemic:
World AIDS Day
Terrence Woods
Issue date: 12/9/09 Section: News
Many in the United States view this time of the year as special. There seems to be, in addition to the gathering of family members and attitudes of sheer love and joy, an abundance of food (your belts are probably still loosened from your Thanksgiving Day meal, and its leftovers). But adding to the special holidays that give this time of the year its loving and joyful feelings is another special day, a day with an importance that extends beyond the borders of this nation. This day aims to spread awareness of a disease that chiefly effects people in lands where such meals as yours this past Thanksgiving are but dreams. This day is World AIDS Day, and it was observed last Tuesday.
AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is a disease that attacks the body's immune system. AIDS is a result of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which attacks and kills the body's T cells (cells that function in the immune system) and is transmitted from one to another via sexual fluids, breast milk, and blood. AIDS gradually lessens the ability of the immune system to fight off different ailments and is ultimately fatal. Now declared a pandemic, AIDS has no known cure. Today, there are more than 30 million people living with AIDS internationally, and over 75% of all AIDS-related deaths occur in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. These frightening facts have caused many organizations around the world to combat this disease in such large ways as donating money for cure-related research, or as small a way as simply spreading awareness. One such program is the World AIDS Campaign, which has been responsible for World AIDS Day since 1997.
The World AIDS Campaign is an organization that aims to reach its goal and slogan, to "Stop AIDS". The campaign holds politicians and policy makers to promises they have made regarding the research of AIDS and the treatment of AIDS-infected patients. The chief goal of World AIDS Day, observed on December 1 annually since 1988, is to raise awareness of and ultimately fight the spread of this disease. This day, assigned a theme each year, inspires many around the world to acknowledge and try to combat AIDS. This year's theme was Universal Access and Human Rights, which the organization selected after conferencing with partner organizations and constituencies. Amongst all of the events that occurred in honor of this year's World AIDS Day was the 5th Annual World Aids Day Gala Concert held in South Africa's Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town, as it has been since 2005. Additionally, many squares of the AIDS Memorial Quilt went on display, and a gathering of such speakers as Kenneth Cole and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called Light for Rights was held in New York's Washington Square Park.
Hopefully, as a result of their and others' efforts, the World AIDS Campaign's slogan will soon be a reality, and AIDS will be stopped.
AIDS, or Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, is a disease that attacks the body's immune system. AIDS is a result of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), which attacks and kills the body's T cells (cells that function in the immune system) and is transmitted from one to another via sexual fluids, breast milk, and blood. AIDS gradually lessens the ability of the immune system to fight off different ailments and is ultimately fatal. Now declared a pandemic, AIDS has no known cure. Today, there are more than 30 million people living with AIDS internationally, and over 75% of all AIDS-related deaths occur in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa. These frightening facts have caused many organizations around the world to combat this disease in such large ways as donating money for cure-related research, or as small a way as simply spreading awareness. One such program is the World AIDS Campaign, which has been responsible for World AIDS Day since 1997.
The World AIDS Campaign is an organization that aims to reach its goal and slogan, to "Stop AIDS". The campaign holds politicians and policy makers to promises they have made regarding the research of AIDS and the treatment of AIDS-infected patients. The chief goal of World AIDS Day, observed on December 1 annually since 1988, is to raise awareness of and ultimately fight the spread of this disease. This day, assigned a theme each year, inspires many around the world to acknowledge and try to combat AIDS. This year's theme was Universal Access and Human Rights, which the organization selected after conferencing with partner organizations and constituencies. Amongst all of the events that occurred in honor of this year's World AIDS Day was the 5th Annual World Aids Day Gala Concert held in South Africa's Artscape Theatre Centre in Cape Town, as it has been since 2005. Additionally, many squares of the AIDS Memorial Quilt went on display, and a gathering of such speakers as Kenneth Cole and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon called Light for Rights was held in New York's Washington Square Park.
Hopefully, as a result of their and others' efforts, the World AIDS Campaign's slogan will soon be a reality, and AIDS will be stopped.
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