WORLD AIDS DAY : 1ST DECEMBER 2014

World AIDS Day is being observed on 1st December of every year, to draw  people together from around the world in solidarity to pay tribute to the millions of people living with HIV/AIDS, raise awareness of the global impact of HIV/AIDS, and celebrate victories that are allowing more people to live longer and healthier lives.


WHO Campaign for this year 2014  is : " CLOSE THE GAP" .
World AIDS Day 2014 is an opportunity to harness the power of social change to put people first and close the access gap.  Ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is possible, but only by closing the gap between people who have access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support services and people who are being left behind.

 
According to the website of WHO, Closing the gap means empowering and enabling all people, everywhere, to access the services they need.

•     By closing the HIV testing gap, the 19 million people who are unaware of their HIV-positive status can begin to get support.
•     By closing the treatment gap, all 35 million people living with HIV will have access to life-saving medicine.
•     By closing the gap in access to medicines for children, all children living with HIV will be able to access treatment, not just the 24% who have access today.
•     By closing the access gap, all people can be included as part of the solution.
• Closing the gap means that ending the AIDS epidemic by 2030 is possible.

 In 2013, there were 35 million [33.2 million–37.2 million] people living with HIV. Since the start of the epidemic, around 78 million [71 million–87 million] people have become infected with HIV and 39 million [35 million–43 million] people have died of AIDS-related illnesses.

The present campaign aims at :  (WHO complete fact sheet on AIDS : click here)

• Close the gap to zero new HIV infections
• Close the gap to zero AIDS-related deaths
• Close the treatment gap
• Close the gap for HIV/tuberculosis
• Close the access gap

 On World AIDS Day 2014 WHO  released new guidelines on providing antiretrovirals (ARVs) as an emergency prevention following HIV exposure, and on the use of the antibiotic co-trimoxazole to prevent HIV-related infections. (Click here for the guidelines). The guidelines provide advice on providing ARVs as post-exposure prophylaxis (“PEP”) for people who have been exposed to HIV – such as health workers, sex workers, and survivors of rape.

(Source : http://who.int/campaigns/aids-day/2014/en/)


The World AIDS Campaign's Global Steering Committee has selected the theme, “Getting to Zero,” for the annual World AIDS Day observances, 2011 – 2015.  The theme is about reducing new HIV infections, discrimination and AIDS related deaths to zero through increased advances and equal access to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and care.


The themes since 1988 : 
1988… Talk about HIV/AIDS
1989… Youth
1990… Women and AIDS
1991… Sharing the Challenge
1992… Community Commitment
1993… Time to Act
1994… AIDS and Families
1995… Shared Rights, Shared Responsibilities
1996… One World, One Hope
1997… Children Living in a World With AIDS
1998… Young People Can Be a Force for Change
1999… AIDS-Ending the Silence: Listen, Learn, Live
2000… AIDS-Men Make a Difference
2001… I Care, Do You?
2002… Stigma and Discrimination: Live and Let Live
2003… Stigma and Discrimination: Live and Let Live
2004… Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS
2005-2010… Stop AIDS. Keep the promise.
2011 – 2015…Getting to Zero

(Source :  http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/idepc/diseases/hiv/worldaidsday/ and  wikipedia)