AIDemocracy.org | World AIDS Day

The AIDS-Free Generation: In the Distance or Over the Cliff?

November 30, 2012 by credmond Leave a Comment

December 1st is World AIDS Day, an international remembrance of those who lost their battle with HIV and to reflect on our progress in treating and preventing HIV infection. According to the 2012 UNAIDS report, nearly 2.5 million people were infected with HIV in 2011 and 1.7 million people died this year from AIDS-related deaths. There are some optimistic figures in this years UNAIDS report. Since 2005, the number of AIDS-related deaths in Sub-saharan Africa have dropped by one-third. Also, the number of HIV-positive people with access to Antiretroviral … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less Tagged With: AIDS, Fiscal Cliff, World AIDS Day

Ten common myths about HIV/AIDS (and the real facts!)

November 30, 2011 by William Tsang 2 Comments

Think you've got it all figured out? Check out ten common myths about HIV/AIDS. Share the facts with friends and family. Information is a powerful weapon! Myth No. 1: I can get HIV by being around people who are HIV-positive. The evidence shows that HIV is not spread through touch, tears, sweat, or saliva. Fact: You cannot catch HIV by: Breathing the same air as someone who is HIV-positive Touching a toilet seat or doorknob handle after an HIV-positive person Drinking from a water fountain Hugging, kissing, or shaking hands with someone who … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Sex and Justice Tagged With: HIV/AIDS, World AIDS Day

Learn more, take action this World AIDS Day!

November 30, 2011 by AIDemocracy Leave a Comment

UNAIDS reported that in 2010 there were 2.7 million new HIV/AIDS infections, bringing the total number of people infected with HIV/AIDS to 34 million. There’s some good news. In 2011 an estimated 700,000 AIDS related deaths will be averted, thanks to existing efforts to fight the disease. It is predicted that continued and increased US funding for HIV/AIDS programs can prevent at least 12.2 million new HIV infections and 7.4 million AIDS related deaths between 2011 and 2020. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently declared that we have the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Featured Less, Sex and Justice, Take Action Tagged With: HIV/AIDS, World AIDS Day

Quick facts about HIV/AIDS in the United States

November 30, 2011 by William Tsang Leave a Comment

On World AIDS Day, tomorrow, we are reminded of an epidemic that has persisted in the U.S. for over 30 years. As we become more connected to world events, it’s easy to see that HIV/AIDS is a global pandemic, affecting individuals and families across every spectrum. It is hardly predictable but very preventable. In advance of World AIDS Day on December 1, the Kaiser Family Foundation has updated a number of its key resources on the HIV/AIDS epidemic. These updated resources can be found here: HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheets I invite you to take a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Sex and Justice Tagged With: HIV/AIDS, World AIDS Day

HIV/AIDS: Key points from a study on men who have sex with men and injection drug-use in Tanzania

November 30, 2011 by William Tsang Leave a Comment

Hi again, this is Billy Tsang writing about HIV/AIDS in Africa. In recognition of the upcoming World AIDS Day, I ask you to consider the power that research and advocacy has in advancing innovative methods to combat HIV/AIDS. Article Title: HIV risk and the overlap of injecting drug use and high-risk sexual behaviours among men who have sex with men in Zanzibar (Unguja), Tanzania by Johnston LG, et al. (2010). Background: Much of the past research on HIV prevalence and sexual risk behaviors in Africa has focused on heterosexual populations. In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Sex and Justice Tagged With: Africa, HIV/AIDS, Injection drug use, Research, sexual health, World AIDS Day

HIV and Us: Victim of the stoppable, unstoppable disease

September 27, 2011 by Gillian Rollason Leave a Comment

Imagine if HIV were an airborne virus? Next time someone next to you on campus sneezed, you could be infected with deadly and incurable disease. And what about mosquito bites? A holiday in Thailand might not seem so appealing then…Would we have developed a cure if the problem was so easily transmitted? Or would be living in a nightmarish dystopia of quarantine and detention centres? Luckily, HIV is not airborne, and despite constant mutations in the virus it is unlikely to ever be as contagious as flu or the common cold. Perhaps just as luckily, the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Featured Less, Sex and Justice Tagged With: health, HIV, HIV/AIDS, human rights, Malaria, MDGs, PEPFAR, sexual and reproductive health, sexual health, The Body, USAID, World AIDS Day

More on World AIDS Day Rally in DC – "Act up. Fight back."

December 3, 2009 by Priti Gautam

WAD DC Rally -Obama's broken promises (from The Examiner)

Article by Candace Y. A. Montague, The Examiner “OBAMA! FENTY! CAN’T YOU SEE? FUND THE FIGHT! STOP HIV!” --- They were young, loud, bodacious, and angry. A collective body of AIDS activists in conjunction with DC Fight Back, Act Up Philadelphia, The Campaign to End AIDS, Health GAP and a plethora of other non-profit organizations electrified the streets of downtown DC on Tuesday. The DC Fights Back rally and protest was held between two main statues of power in DC, the White House and the John Wilson Building (city hall). On lookers were stunned … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Sex and Justice Tagged With: advocacy, Barack Obama, global health, HIV/AIDS, rally, World AIDS Day

Activists decry D.C. AIDS policies during protest: Two arrested after blocking doorway to Fenty office

December 2, 2009 by Priti Gautam

Article written by Darryl Fears, Washington Post A coalition of groups led by D.C. activists staged a sit-in inside the John A. Wilson Building and a mock funeral procession outside the White House on World AIDS Day to call attention to the suffering of those afflicted with the disease. Two representatives of the AIDS awareness group D.C. Fights Back were arrested Tuesday for squatting in front of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's "bullpen" office, where his staff meets, and refusing a police order to move from the doorway. Larry Bryant, co-chairman of the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Sex and Justice Tagged With: advocacy, Barack Obama, global health, HIV/AIDS, rally, World AIDS Day

Why Are Women Crucial in the AIDS Epidemic? Just Ask Them!

December 2, 2008 by Courtney Matson

Yesterday, December 1st, or the 20th annual World AIDS Day, 5 incredible women came together at Georgetown University Medical Center to talk about the Feminization of HIV/AIDS. Their discussion took the form of a panel sponsored by Americans for Informed Democracy (AID), American Medical Student Association (AMSA), University Coalitions for Global Health (UCGH), Physicians for Human Rights (PHR), and the Georgetown Medical AIDS Advocacy Network (GMAAN) to host a panel for World AIDS Day on the feminization of HIV. The Panel included experts Jacqui … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Blog, Sex and Justice Tagged With: HIV/AIDS, women, World AIDS Day