World AIDS Day: What You Need to Know
How AIDS impacts Black America and the world.
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December 1 is World AIDS Day (WAD)! - Do you know why World AIDS Day exists? Read more about AIDS around the world, how it impacts Black America and what you can do to educate your community about this epidemic. —Kellee Terrell (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer)
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What’s World AIDS Day? - Observed on Dec. 1 each year, World AIDS Day was the first international health day. Created in 1988 to commemorate those who have died from AIDS complications, it also generates awareness of HIV and those living with HIV/AIDS. Advances made in HIV treatment and understanding are highlighted as well. (Photo: Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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What is HIV/AIDS? - Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is the final stage of an HIV infection, which causes severe damage to the immune system and makes it more difficult to fight certain infections and cancers. An estimated 33 million people globally are currently living with HIV/AIDS. (Photo: Sergey Panteleev/Getty Images)
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HIV/AIDS Red Ribbon - The red ribbon, the brainchild of a group of New York City artists, is one of the most recognizable symbols for HIV/AIDS. The ribbon came to international prominence in 1991, 10 years after AIDS was first recognized by the medical industry. (Photo: WikiCommons)
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This Year’s Theme: Getting to Zero - This year’s World AIDS Day theme is “Getting to Zero” – working toward having zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination, and zero AIDS-related deaths. This won’t be an easy thing to do. We need better access to HIV medications for all; routine HIV testing; more needle exchange programs; more programs aimed at eliminating HIV stigma; and better access to health care, to name a few. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Find an Event in Your Area - Get involved this WAD! Find about events in your area at TheBody.com. (Photo: Alessia Pierdomenico/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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African-Americans and HIV/AIDS - It’s no secret that we bear the brunt of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. While Blacks make up just 14 percent of the U.S. population, we account for almost half of all new HIV infections. Black women are 20 times more likely to have HIV than their white female counterparts, and HIV rates have spiked among young Black men who have sex with men (MSM). (Photo: Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images)
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Is the Epidemic Getting Better in the U.S.? - While HIV/AIDS stats can be depressing, it’s important to know that we are making headway. In 2012, a report conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that new infections among African-American women were down 21 percent in 2010, the first known drop in that population. (Photo: Mario Tama/Getty Images)
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Why Eliminating Stigma Is Crucial - Ignorance around HIV/AIDS does nothing more than push HIV back in the closet and put us more at risk for HIV infection. HIV isn’t a white gay men’s disease. It isn’t a moral issue; it doesn’t happen to “bad” people. And down-low men isn’t where Black women are getting it. Believing the negative hype only hurts us. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Educate Yourself and Your Peeps - When you know better, you do better. Educating yourself about HIV is crucial for protecting yourself and your partners from HIV and other STDs. Get the facts and share them with your friends. This World AIDS Day use Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to spread the word. (Photo: Hero Images/Getty Images)
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Encourage Others to Get Tested - In the U.S. alone it’s estimated that 250,000 of the 1.2 million people living with HIV don't know they are infected. For this WAD, go get tested and encourage others around you to do the same. Testing is crucial for Black folks: We are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV and AIDS at the same time than any other racial group, because we wait to get tested until we're already really sick. (Photo: Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
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Different Testing Options - Getting a blood test during your next physical is one way to test for HIV, but you can also go to a clinic and get a rapid oral or blood HIV test — which can take anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. You can also test in the privacy of your home thanks to Orasure’s Home Oral HIV Test. (Photo: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)