You expect to see a burst of Christmas colors in December. But on December 1, things will be red for a different reason. That’s because this day has been designated World AIDS Day—a day for those in the global fight against this pandemic to join together and celebrate the progress being made, while rolling up their sleeves to finish the job.
As inaugurated by UNAIDS, the theme for World AIDS Day from 2011-2015 is “Getting to zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths.” Many efforts to accomplish this goal are already in place, including UNAIDS’ strategic distribution of anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) and other treatment options that have achieved virtual elimination of new infections in pilot regions.
It’s a daunting fact that 34 million people today are living with HIV/AIDS. But there’s real hope that we can bring the number back down—all the way down, to zero.
