World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day, observed December 1 each year, is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

World AIDS Day has become a time to reflect on the obstacles we face in the fight against HIV and AIDS. UNAIDS estimates that 32.9 million people were living with HIV/AIDS worldwide as of the end of 2007, up from 29.5 million in 2001. Although huge strides have been made over the past two decades, we are, in many respects, continuing to lose ground as new infections outpace our ability to deliver treatment. Despite nearly a quarter of a century of treatment and research, nearly two million die from AIDS every year.

The pandemic only gains momentum: nearly three million new cases of the disease occurred this year, and only a small percentage of these patients will receive treatment before they die. In June 2008, a joint WHO/UNAIDS report showed that nearly three million people were receiving anti-retroviral drugs in the developing world, less than a third of the 9.7 million people who needed them at that time. That's a polite way of saying that 6.7 million were dying for lack of drugs.