Spreading Awareness – Making it Viral!

World AIDS Day on the first of December, is not just about raising money, but also about fighting the disease and prejudice, by spreading awareness.

World AIDS Day themes
2006 – Stop AIDS; Keep the Promise – Accountability
2005 – Stop AIDS; Keep the Promise – Make the Promise
2004 – Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS
2003 – Stigma & Discrimination
2002 – Stigma & Discrimination
2001 – I care. Do you?
2000 – AIDS : Men make a difference
1999 – Listen, Learn, Live: World AIDS Campaign with Children & Young People
1998 – Force for Change: World AIDS Campaign With Young People
1997 – Children Living in a World with AIDS
1996 – One World, One Hope
1995 – Shared Rights, Shared Responsibilities
1994 – AIDS & the Family
1993 – Act
1992 – Community Commitment
1991 – Sharing the Challenge
1990 – Women & AIDS
1989 – Youth
1988 – Communication

“Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise” is this year’s theme – an appeal to governments and policy makers to ensure they meet the targets they have agreed to in the fight against HIV and AIDS. This will be the focus till 2010.
World AIDS Day is organized by WAC (World AIDS Campaign). Before 2005, it was organized by UNAIDS.
The Red Ribbon is an international symbol of AIDS awareness that is worn by people all year round and particularly around World AIDS Day as a token of solidarity.
The red ribbon started as a “grass roots” effort, and as a result there is no official red ribbon, and many people make their own. It’s easily done – just use any ordinary red ribbon and a safety pin!

The biggest battle against the war on AIDS is being fought in research laboratories. The latest entrant and possibly a more potent form of treatment over the conventional anti-retroviral drugs is Gene Therapy.
The results of experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and VIRxSYS (a biotechnology firm based near Baltimore) published in the NY edition of The Economist of November, 9th 2006 are very promising.
If later trials confirm the early positive results, it could be the long-awaited anti-HIV vaccine.
3 Small things you can do to make a BIG difference:
Wear a red ribbon – Carry a few in your pocket to pin on your friends!
Protect yourself and your partner. If you are worried – get tested!
Make copies of articles like this one and send them to everyone you know – make it viral!

Copyright © 2006 Noël Gama
https://noelgama.com