World AIDS Day

I had no idea today was World AIDS Day until I saw Mom on Twitter this morning. She is turning her tweets red to support the cause. While peeking over her shoulder I found all these interesting facts about AIDS.

Over 14 million children in Africa have been orphaned because of AIDS. I was blown away by this. All these poor children have lost their parents due a preventable and treatable disease. People are working to raise awareness about the dangers of AIDS but poverty is rampant in most parts of Africa so this task is quite a challenge. If people were taught the danger, understood the consequences, and were given the appropriate equipment to protect themselves, I firmly believe we could get this epidemic under control. If treatments were made available to affected people, lives could and would be saved. Children should not have to lose their parents because of this disease.

Did you know that 10% of the world's population live in Africa yet it's home to 67% of all HIV cases? This statistic just blew me away. These numbers must be wrong, right? Nope. Just imagine if 67% of all HIV cases were in Europe, Asia, or North America. Do you think more would be done to fight this disease? It's important to remember that people are working tirelessly every day to prevent and treat this disease. Even though there is no cure or vaccine, don't give up hope that either won't be discovered soon.

How many people in the world do you think have HIV? How about 33 million! That over 18% of the world's population. I'm sure you can guess where most of those affected with HIV live. You guessed it - Africa. 22 million people in Africa have HIV. The disease is so rampant that it threatens to wipe out entire villages.

So while in October we think pink, today we think red. We feel red. We believe in red because we believe in the cause. There are many ways to help today because so many companies are fighting this fight along with us. (Product) Red items are available around the world and retailers like the Gap and Starbucks are amping up their contributions today with the Gap contributing 1% of all revenue and Starbucks contributing 5 cents for every hand-crafted beverage in US & Canada. Nike has joined the fight this year with their (NIKE) RED laces. They are contributing 100% of the profits from these laces to the Global Fund and to football-based programs that help fight AIDS in Africa. Football is used as a framework to teach youths how to avoid contracting HIV. Mom is off to buy some RED laces right now.

AIDS was first identified as a disease way back in 1981, way before my time. For those of you who remember the 80's (and the big hair) you know how scary it was back then when news first broke about this dreaded disease. Like they used to say in the 70's we've come a long way baby but we've still got a long way to go. Learn about the disease and then teach others about HIV/AIDS. Support groups working to fight this disease and keep yourself safe from this disease.