World AIDS Day

Transcript

The 1st of December is World AIDS Day. This year the focus of the World AIDS Campaign is on HIV and human rights, especially the right to universal access to AIDS treatment. Recently many people in wealthy countries seem to take it for granted that one can live with AIDS for a long time, but in developing countries many people don't have access to treatment. Two million people died from AIDS in 2008, and about 33 million are now living with HIV. That includes more than 15.5 million women and 2 million children. Most of them are in poor countries, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. Fewer than half of those who need treatment have been getting the drugs they need. [1]

Now most people are aware of infectious diseases, especially since the swine flu pandemic is spreading throughout the world. [2] HIV doesn't spread as easily as influenza, of course, but it's also a virus, and it's a global public health issue. We have to cooperate to prevent the spread of HIV, and we have to respect and take care of people who get it. Everyone can support medical research and universal access to proper health care.

Notes

1. World Health Organization. Towards Universal Access: Scaling Up Priority HIV/AIDS Interventions in the Health Sector. 30 Sep. 2009. 28 Nov. 2009. [Full report: PDF, 164 pages A4, 2.5MB] <http://www.who.int/hiv/pub/2009progressreport/en/>.
2. World Health Organization. Pandemic (H1N1) 2009. 29 Nov. 2009. <http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/>.