World AIDS Day falls on December 1 each year. World AIDS Day is dedicated to spreading awareness of the AIDS pandemic spread by the spread of HIV infection, and to mourning those who have died of the disease. An estimated 40 million people worldwide have died of AIDS since 1981, and an estimated 37 million are living with HIV, making it one of the most important global public health issues in recorded history. Despite recent improvements in treatment, the AIDS epidemic still claims an estimated two million lives each year, of which more than 250,000 are children.
History of World AIDS Day
The history of World AIDS Day dates back to the year 1987. This day was conceived by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS. These officers worked for the World Health Organisation in the Global Programme on AIDS. James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter took their proposal for World AIDS Day to the director of the Global Programme on AIDS Jonathan Mann who liked the idea. Since then, he recommended the first World AIDS Day to be commenced on December 1, 1988. United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS, abbreviated to UNAIDS came into existence in 1996 and then World AIDS day was organised. Various themes were structured that was proposed as one of the major changes in organizing Worlds AIDS Day
There are various reasons through which a person can be affected by AIDS.
1. It can be contracted through body fluids like blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, vaginal and rectal fluids, and breast milk of an infected woman.
2. Unprotected sex with a person who is infected can also pass on the deadly disease to another person.
3. Sharing injection needles, razor blades, knives among other things with an infected person can also be a reason for contraction of the disease.
There are a few symptoms of the disease that one should be aware of. These include:
1. Fever
2. Sore Throat
3. Skin rashes
4. Nausea
5. Body aches
6. Headaches
7. Stomach infection etc
