Tuesday, December 1, 2009

World AIDS Day

Today I need to take a break from my usual snarkfest. December 1st is World AIDS Day. I first became involved with AIDS charities and movement when I was in high school and became a teen trainer for Stop AIDS. I've met amazing people, some still with us, some not...and World AIDS Day for me remains a day to reflect on how far we've come and how far there still is to run in this race. HIV is both preventable and treatable. It's no longer a death sentence here in the U.S. but for the infected in Africa, where the majority of new cases of HIV in the world still occur, those who can't access or afford treatment, the prognosis is far darker.

A few facts from Join Red:

  • 10% of the world’s pop is in Africa yet she's home to 67% of all HIV cases.
  • It costs around 40 cents a day for the 2 pills that are needed to help keep someone with HIV alive.
  • 33mm people in world have HIV. 22mm live in Africa.
HIV is treatable, not curable. There is still much to be done domestically and around the globe. Advances. Discoveries.

How you can help, today, without even trying:

Buy a handcrafted beverage at any participating Starbucks and they will donate $0.05 per drink to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS in Africa

Purchase anything from this GAP collection and half the profits go to the Global Fund To Fight AIDS

Go Red this holiday season: check out this list of Product RED gift items

facebook.com/joinred
twitter.com/joinred
http://www.joinred.com/



image property of the Keith Haring Estate





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