World Aids Day is a chance to do two things: take action and reflect. First and foremost it's got to be a spur to take action, as there are still far too many people who aren't educated about HIV and AIDS and who don't get tested. Over 100,000 people in the UK are living with HIV, but a quarter do not know they have it - that is 25,000 people who are not benefiting from treatment and are increasing the risk of passing the virus on. This means up to 600 people a year could be dying from a preventable, treatable condition.
People need to know that diagnosed early, the outlook for most people with HIV in the UK today is a good one, thanks to the availability of effective treatment and the excellent care provided by the NHS. Above all people need to know that it's never been quicker or simpler to get tested. In fact to demonstrate just how quick it is, this year the sexual health clinic 56 Dean Street is attempting to set a new world record for the number of people tested in one day - last year they tested 467 people, this year they're determined to beat it.
That's what World Aids Day is about: taking practical action. But it's a chance to reflect, too, on the huge strides that have already been made. Thirty years ago the friends of Terrence Higgins started a trust that has benefitted countless people. Two other bodies celebrate their 25th birthday this year - the National Aids Trust and Food Chain - and together these organisations and their dedicated teams have done so much to challenge prejudice, educate people and befriend those who are ill. Huge strides have been made abroad, too. Globally there were more than half a million fewer deaths in 2011 than in 2005 - and British campaigning efforts have played an important part in that change.
So to everyone reading this - let's use World Aids Day to spread the message about education, testing and early diagnosis. And to everyone who has been involved in the fight against HIV and AIDS for decades now - you should feel proud of what you've done.
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I have to say, this really makes me wonder if making homosexual "marriage" legal is likely to improve this.
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it" - Joseph Goebbels.
The converse is also true - if you hide the truth long enough, people will no longer believe it....
Any idea why they removed my comment??
John Blair Linn has been an active member of the Washington DC gay scene for 25 years. Recently he became disillusioned with the "homosexual lifestyle." by John Blair Linn
(henrymakow.com)
He said, all that most homosexuals really care about is sex. Very few are in actual committed relationships, and those that are almost always have open relationships, and these are widely accepted in the gay community.
While these Christians may not have acted sympathetic enough towards this Gay Plague .. really, the fault for the spread of AIDS in the UK and America really rests on the lap of Gay Men who spread it amongst themselves. Everyone knew the dangers, that measures like condoms could have been taken .. yet within this tight knit Community they even refused to help themselves... sad..
You can catch many STDs from unprotected sex, not just HIV. The main treatment for HIV today is boosting the immune system with protease inhibitors, legumes, (canned chick-peas, canned kidney beans and bean curd). Unlike the old days when they were trying to kill off a virus with drugs that weres
I'd trust antiretrovirals before I put my faith in chick peas.
ANYONE who has had unprotected sex is at risk,you kwnow your own sexual history but do you know 100% about your partner`s history.Working in a BBV clinic I see so many uninformed Heterosexual people like yourself testing positive which is such a shame.
In the USA, the UK, and a number of other European countries, HIV and AIDS have affected young gay men more than any other group of people. In the UK and USA especially, the percentage of young gay men who have been infected with HIV and the percentage with AIDS is much higher than other groups such as heterosexual people or children.
In the USA, it is estimated that nearly 255,000 men who have sex with men were living with HIV/AIDS in 2007, and nearly 5,400 had died. Around 48% of all people diagnosed with AIDS in America in 2007 were probably exposed to HIV through male-to-male sexual contact.1 In the UK, by the end of June 2009, around 45,947 diagnoses of HIV had been in men who had probably become infected through sex with another man. 53% of these men were aged below 35.2
There are also other parts of the world where men who have sex with men, many of whom do not identify themselves as gay, are affected by HIV. For example, the primary HIV transmission route in Latin America is sex between men. In Brazil, men who have sex with men accounted for 40% of all AIDS diagnoses among males between 2000 and 2005.3 In some cities in Colombia, estimates of HIV prevalence among men who have sex with men range from 10% to 25%.4