Correspondent's Notebook
World AIDS day
28 November 2008
In 1988, the World Health Organisation declared the first World AIDS Day in an effort to raise public awareness about HIV/AIDS issues, including the need for support and understanding for people living with HIV/AIDS. Monday, December the 1st is World AIDS Day.
The day is also an opportunity to highlight the need for the continued development of education and prevention initiatives.
The symbol for the event is a red ribbon, representing blood, danger and the idea of passion.
The tails of the ribbon point down to symbolise life flowing away.
The World Health Organisation says there are now more than 33 million people living with HIV.
It says last year, in 2007, about 2.5 million were infected with the virus and 2.1 million died of AIDS.
Eight countries in sub-Saharan Africa now account for almost one-third of all new infections and AIDS deaths globally.
The second most affected region, is South East Asia, including India.
The World Health Organisation and UNAIDS estimate that four million people are living with HIV/AIDS in its Southeast Asia zone – where the HIV burden is oncentrated in five countries, India, Indonesia, Burma, Nepal and Thailand.
In India, figures from 2006 show about 2.5 million people are living with HIV. And more than 30 percent are between the ages of 15 and 29.
In China, it’s estimated that 700,000 people are living with HIV – including about 75,000 AIDS patients.
The WHO says the epidemics in Indonesia and Nepal are growing rapidly.
And Papua New Guinea is experiencing what’s described as a generalised epidemic, with nearly half of all new HIV infections among the wives of infected men and one third among the children of infected mothers.
In Australia, people are being asked to take personal responsibility in the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Recent studies indicate that HIV infection rates in Australia are gradually increasing – highlighting the need to remind people that it’s still a serious challenge.
But there is some good news.
The WHO notes there are examples of the successful reversal of the epidemic in Thailand and indications of the decreasing HIV prevalence in Burma and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
And in Cambodia, the situation has improved too – due to carefully targeted prevention efforts.
So what can we do, to help curb the spread of the disease?
Experts agree awareness is the key – hence World AIDS day. The theme this year is leadership, and the slogan “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise”.
The aim is to highlight the discrepancy between the commitments that have been made to halt the spread of AIDS, and the actions that have been taken to follow through
The leaders of most countries acknowledge the threat of AIDS, many have committed to do something about it and nearly all have national policies on HIV.
But, consider this: It’s believed that only one third of those who need treatment received it, in low to middle income countries.
Infection rates are increasing faster than the increase in number of people receiving treatment.
And one third of the countries affected lack legal protection for HIV/AIDS sufferers; discrimination continues to be a barrier.
