This coming December 1st, the world is set to celebrate World AIDS Day. With the theme "Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation", the day serves as an opportunity for people around the world to work and unite in the fight against human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), show support for individuals with HIV, and remember those who have died. According to World AIDS Day's official website, it is the first ever globe health celebration day, which started in 1988.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is highly involved in this advocacy, as evident in the site AIDS.gov, which is the main source of information for the event. The following objectives are listed:
1. Expand visibility of timely and relevant Federal HIV policies, programs, and resources to the American public.
2. Increase use of new media tools by government, minority, and other community partners to extend the reach of HIV programs to communities at greatest risk.
3. Increase knowledge about HIV and access to HIV services for people most at-risk for, or living with, HIV.
AIDS.gov lists some fast facts about HIV in the United States:
- More than 1.1 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 6 (15.8%) are unaware of their infection.
- Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly young black/African American MSM, are most seriously affected by HIV.
- By race, blacks/African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV.
Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) share the following information about HIV incidence, diagnoses, and deaths:
HIV Incidence (new infections): The estimated incidence of HIV has remained stable overall in recent years, at about 50,000 new HIV infections per year. Within the overall estimates, however, some groups are affected more than others. MSM continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV infection, and among races/ethnicities, African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected.
HIV Diagnoses (new diagnoses, regardless of when infection occurred): In 2011, an estimated 49,273 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the United States. In that same year, an estimated 32,052 people were diagnosed with AIDS. Overall, an estimated 1,155,792 people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS.
Deaths: An estimated 15,529 people with an AIDS diagnosis died in 2010, and approximately 636,000 people in the United States with an AIDS diagnosis have overall. The deaths of persons with an AIDS diagnosis can be due to any cause-that is, the death may or may not be related to AIDS.