World Aids Day this year is all about "Getting to Zero" by 2015: Zero Aids-related deaths, Zero new infections, and Zero discrimination. Unfortunately this goal cannot be realized as organizations slash their budgets in face of the economic crisis.
The Global Fund to fight against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria recently announced its intention to abandon the next round of funding due to a ten billion dollar shortfall. While services currently financed will continue with transitional finances, this means there will be no new funding possibilities until 2014. The announcement comes alongside a new report released by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and UNAIDS. The report revealed that increased access to HIV services resulted in a 15 percent reduction of new infections over the past decade, and a 22 percent decline in AIDS-related deaths in the last five years.
With around 34 million people worldwide living with HIV, the medical services and education campaigns that will suffer from these lower budgets are a dire problem. "There is now a very real possibility of getting ahead of the epidemic," said Gottfried Hirnschall, Director of WHO's HIV Department. "But this can only be achieved by both sustaining and accelerating this momentum over the next decade and beyond."
See what you can do to commemorate World Aids Day and show your support for HIV/AIDS funding after the jump...
The easiest way to show your support is by wearing a red ribbon, the international symbol of HIV awareness. You can also raise funds by passing around a red ribbon collection box at your work, school, or community center.
You can also partake in the numerous World Aids Day events happening worldwide. In New York City's Washington Square Park between 5:30 and 6:30 P.M., celebrities including Kenneth Cole and Liza Minnelli will dim the lights of Washington Square Park's Centennial Arch in commemoration of the event. Housing Works will host a 7 p.m. screening of the film Untitled, by artist Jim Hodges with Carlos Marques da Cruz and Encke Kingrls. The film looks at the activism of AIDS' early years. You can also stop by the Bookstore Cafe to create a video message for the World AIDS Day Memorial Video Project, commemorating loved ones lost to AIDS.
In Dagenham, a suburb of London, check out the Go Viral Against HIV fashion and music show 6 P.M. December 2 at the Castle Green Conference Centre. The show will feature a runway catwalk, film, dance, and music. There will be models representing different countries and a live chat with outspoken HIV-positive individuals as well as health practitioners and community leaders. A screening of Kenyan film Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten, will also take place.
For more information on how you can participate in World Aids Day, click here.
You can also partake in the numerous World Aids Day events happening worldwide. In New York City's Washington Square Park between 5:30 and 6:30 P.M., celebrities including Kenneth Cole and Liza Minnelli will dim the lights of Washington Square Park's Centennial Arch in commemoration of the event. Housing Works will host a 7 p.m. screening of the film Untitled, by artist Jim Hodges with Carlos Marques da Cruz and Encke Kingrls. The film looks at the activism of AIDS' early years. You can also stop by the Bookstore Cafe to create a video message for the World AIDS Day Memorial Video Project, commemorating loved ones lost to AIDS.
In Dagenham, a suburb of London, check out the Go Viral Against HIV fashion and music show 6 P.M. December 2 at the Castle Green Conference Centre. The show will feature a runway catwalk, film, dance, and music. There will be models representing different countries and a live chat with outspoken HIV-positive individuals as well as health practitioners and community leaders. A screening of Kenyan film Unseen, Unsung, Unforgotten, will also take place.
For more information on how you can participate in World Aids Day, click here.
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