Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise: Lead, Empower, Deliver

Today marks the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day. Started and organized by UNAIDS until 2004, today is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS epidemic. According to UNAIDS, between 30-36 million people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007, and 2 million died. The World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease study predicts that despite antiretroviral therapies, AIDS-related mortality will reach 2.4 million people by 2012. The epidemic is not sequestered in the developing world. In the US, the CDC estimates that at least 1.1 million adults and adolescents are currently living with HIV/AIDS and 56,000 more are infected each year. Closer to us here at GSI, the Washington, DC Department of Health reported in 2007 that 1 in 20 District residents are infected with HIV, and 1 in 50 are living with AIDS.

Peter Piot, director of UNAIDS, announced today "Let’s not forget that AIDS is not over anywhere. Indeed, on World AIDS Day 2008, there are as many reasons for concern as for celebration."

To hear the words of other UN leaders, please click here.