orld AIDS Day 2006 focusses on accountability. On December 1, individuals and organisations are expected to campaign to promote commitment from leaders and generate public awareness about AIDS.
The first World AIDS Day was commemorated in 1991. After the first AIDS case was documented in 1981, some progress has been made in removing the social stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, but there is still a long way to go.
Images like Princess Diana holding the hands of an AIDS patient were flashed around the world to counter the stigma in 1987. The Hollywood film Philadelphia starring Tom Hanks as an AIDS patient won him an Oscar and the involvement of celebrities globally has been used to spread awareness and information about the disease.
Activists from the non-government organisation Social Activities Integration participate in a protest against discrimation towards HIV patients in Mumbai, November 30, 2006, on the eve of World AIDS Day. India has 5.7 million people living with the AIDS virus, but only seven percent of those who need anti-retroviral treatment get the drugs, according to the United Nations AIDS body.
Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images
Also see:
India must declare AIDS a crisis
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