World AIDS Day '06
WOLRD AIDS DAY
December 1, 2006
14,000 people will be infected with HIV today
7,700 of them will be 24 or younger
7,500 - more than half- will be women or girls
Over 22 million people have died from AIDS.
Over 42 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and 74 percent of these infected people live in sub-Saharan Africa.
By 2030 AID's will become the World's third highest killer, behind heart disease and stroke.
HIV/AIDS is a "disease of young people" with half of the 5 million new infections each year occurring among people ages 15 to 24.
The UN estimates that, currently, there are 14 million AIDS orphans and that by 2010 there will be 25 million.
In the United States:
An estimated one million people are currently living with HIV in the United States, with approximately 40,000 new infections occurring each year.
70 percent of these new infections occur in men and 30 percent occur in women.
By race, 54 percent of the new infections in the United States occur among African Americans, and 64 percent of the new infections in women occur in African American women.
75 percent of the new infections in women are heterosexually transmitted.
Half of all new infections in the United States occur in people 25 years of age or younger.
Almost 30% of those infected are unaware they have the disease.
Thank you for posting this - fight AIDS - not people!
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Also, if you haven't stopped by - Light to Unite is a website sponsored by Bristol-Myers and they are donating a dollar (up to $100,000.00) to the National AIDS fund everytime someone goes to their website, moves the match to the candle, and lights it. They've already reached their 100,000th candle but I think it still counts and is a cool site :)
Then there's the (Red) people that branched off from the One Campaign. To hear Bono's message to the people go here: http://www.joinred.com/news.asp . I know people may not understand my frustration with The ONE Campaign. I just get frustrated because they are all about Africa. I get it that Africa is the most devastated by AIDS area in the world, but it's still a major problem here in the United States, it's continuing to be a huge issue in Russia, and the Chinese government are starting to see it as becoming a major issue in Asia as well. What about them?
Today I am not speaking - I am flying on a redeye into Boston to speak at a banquet at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester tomorrow evening.
I will let you know how that goes... and I still have to update about the speaking engagement at LSU! I'll probably write that up either today or tonight from the airport :)