World AIDS Day...........more to come this evening

For the last 18 years Blogger Friends and readers, December 1st has been commemorated as World AIDS Day. A day to make a difference, talk about our policies, renew our commitment, and getting this disease under control. The theme for World AIDS Day 2006 is ACCOUNTABILITY!!


In 2000, heads of state made a promise to halt and begin to reverse the spread of AIDS by 2015. New reports by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization (WHO) indicate that, as of 2006, the epidemic continues to spread in every region of the world. By now more than 65 million people have been infected with HIV and well over 25 million people have died of AIDS since 1981, 2.9 million in 2006 alone. At this rate, the WHO predicts that in the next 25 years another 117 million people will die, making AIDS the third leading cause of death worldwide. With “accountability” the theme of this World AIDS Day on 1 December, campaigners across the globe are calling leaders to account not just for good intentions, but for action to make those promises a reality.



“AIDS is the biggest challenge humanity has had to deal with,” says van Soest. More than the technical problem of developing drugs and making sure they are delivered, AIDS “is related to all the taboos and vulnerabilities that affect all our societies” he states. “AIDS challenges us more than any other infectious disease.” In the face of the overwhelming complexity and rampant stigma that surround AIDS, failed promises have become the norm. The change that is desperately needed is radical, but also shockingly simple. In his World AIDS Day message, Kofi Annan, secretary-general of the United Nations, perhaps said it best: “Accountability — the theme of World AIDS Day on Friday — requires every president and prime minister, every parliamentarian and politician, to decide and declare that "AIDS stops with me."



Don't have enough information on AIDS? Afraid of what you might find out? Not sure where to go to get all of the facts or to get Tested? Follow this link to KNOWHIVAIDS.org and get most of your questions answered. You owe it not only to yourself and your health, but to your sexual partners health and the people that love you.



Looking for ways that YOU can help fight HIV/AIDS?? Check out some of these places that have dedicated themselves to finding a cure and making the disease more livable with until the cure is found.

International HIV/AIDS Alliance

HelpStopAIDS.Com


Fight AIDS At Home

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS

Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation

Elton John AIDS Foundation

Until There's A Cure Foundation

AMFAR