World AIDS Day: "Getting to Zero"

December 1st is World AIDS Day and it is the 30th anniversay of AIDS. This year's theme is "Getting to Zero." That's zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. For those living with the disease, that's their mission, all year round.

The world is coming together to raise awareness of an AIDS Free Generation due in 2015. In 2009 year nearly half a million babies were born with HIV. Started on 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day is about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education.


This World AIDS Day, cities around the world will light their most distinctive landmarks (RED). From the Sydney Opera House, to the London Eye, Cape Town’s Table Mountain, New York's Empire State Building and more. The world will turn red to highlight the goal that by 2015 we can have a world where virtually no child is born with HIV.


Here’s a list of all the cities and landmarks participating this year:
Australia: Sydney Opera House & Sydney Harbour Bridge
Brazil: The Congress Building, Brasilia
Canada: The CN Tower, Toronto
China: Former Kowloon-Canton Railway Clock Tower & The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong
England: The London Eye
Ireland: The Mansion House, Dublin
South Africa: Table Mountain, Cape Town


United States:
New York: The Empire State Building, New York Stock Exchange, NASDAQ MarketSite Tower in Times Square
San Francisco: City Hall, Ghiradelli Square, the JW Marriott
Chicago: The Wrigley Building
Washington D.C.: The Hirshhorn Museum
Portland: The Morrison Bridge
Atlanta: City Hall
Dallas: The Joule Hotel
Salt Lake City: The City & County Building
Atlantic City: Harrah’s Casino
Miami: Fountainebleau Hotel
Providence: Providence City Hall, Bank of America Skating Rink, Biltmore Hotel, G-Tech, Dunkin Donuts Center, RI Convention Center, One Financial Plaza (2 buildings), RI State House, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Trinity Repertory Theatre)

The Empire State Building

The London Eye

City Hall, San Francisco

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney Opera House

Table Mountain, Cape Town

10 HIV/AIDS Facts Everyone Should Know

1. Anyone can get HIV.
Today, this immune system-destroying disease is known as AIDS, which stands for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. The virus that causes it is HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus. But when the disease first appeared, AIDS was given other names, including “gay cancer” and GRID, which stood for gay-related immune deficiency. Those names fell by the wayside when it was realized that everyone — not just people who are gay — are at risk.
2. AIDS’ death toll is astronomic.
Since the HIV/AIDS epidemic began in 1981, more than 30 million people worldwide have died from the disease, including more than 600,000 in the United States.
3. You can have HIV and not know it.
HIV can remain undetected for as long as 10 years, and during that time, someone who's infected can spread it to many others. The only way to know for sure whether you or your partner is HIV-positive is to get tested. Late-stage HIV — before it becomes AIDS — does cause symptoms, but they can be easily confused with other ailments.
4. Prevention is key.
Because HIV/AIDS is transmitted by the exchange of bodily fluids, the best way to prevent infection is to have safe sex (by consistently using a condom) and not injecting yourself with drugs or sharing needles. If you have multiple sexual partners, have unprotected sex, or use needles to inject drugs, federal health agencies recommend getting tested for HIV every six months.
5. HIV has a powerful opponent.
Before 1996, an AIDS diagnosis was basically a death sentence. But during that year, a class of drugs known as antiretroviral therapy came into use. This so-called drug cocktail, which prevents the HIV virus from replicating, can keep the disease from turning into AIDS, transforming a fatal disease into a manageable one.
6. You can’t get HIV from these things:
Myths still abound about HIV/AIDS, so it’s important to know that you cannot get it from insect bites or stings, a closed-mouth kiss, or an infected person’s sweat or tears. You cannot get it by simply working or hanging out with someone who has AIDS or is HIV-positive either.
7. It’s not just a man’s disease.
Of the 34 million people worldwide who have AIDS, about half of them are women or girls. And a woman with AIDS or HIV is particularly vulnerable because of the possibility of passing the disease to her unborn children.
8. African-Americans carry a bigger HIV/AIDS burden. Although African-Americans make up only about 12 percent of the U.S. population, they make up nearly half the people in the country who are living with HIV.
9. You can test yourself for HIV in the privacy of your own home.
The HomeAccess HIV-1 Test System is an at-home test that has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and can be bought online or at many drugstores.
10. HIV/AIDS is still a huge problem. In the United States, someone becomes infected with HIV every 9½ minutes — and one in five people infected with HIV are unaware of it.

Read Bono's New York Times op-ed "A Decade of Progress on AIDS "

The (RED) & ONE (2015)QUILT officially launched today, WORLD AIDS DAYS! Be a part of it today! 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day. By 2015, that number can be nearly zero. They're  fighting for an AIDS Free Generation by 2015 – JOIN THEM! Look who already has...www.2015quilt.com