As you may or may not have heard, December 1st (this past Thursday) was World AIDS Day. This year's theme was: Leading with Science, Uniting for Action.
What made me write this article initially was the fact that the schools where I live did little to show their awareness. In fact, it consisted of students in environmental classes wearing red ribbon stickers. So I wrote the article in hopes that it would raise awareness for Whyville citizens.
The purpose of World AIDS Day was to act as a memorial for those who have lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS, acknowledge our achievements in fighting it, and to strengthen our effort in the fight.
Some of these said achievements (done with the aid of things such as antiretroviral treatments) are:
- From 2001-2009 the rate of new H.I.V. infections declined by 25 percent.
- The prevention of more than 114,000 mother-to-child infections last year.
- In 2008 the U.S. was supporting antiretroviral treatment for 1.7 million people worldwide.
- 2.5 million deaths have been avoided in low/middle-income countries since 1995 due to antiretroviral treatments.
While these are pretty colossal achievements, there is still much to be done. Even though the amount of AIDS-related deaths decreased significantly, an estimated 1.8 million AIDS-related deaths occurred in 2010.
Overall, I think we should be proud of the achievements we've made in fighting AIDS as a country. However, we must also keep in mind the fact that AIDS still causes a large amount of deaths. These facts both represent the purpose of World AIDS Day.
