WORLD AIDS DAY 2004

World AIDS Day - the international day of action on HIV and AIDS which takes place every year on 1 December.

World AIDS Day is about getting involved so that everyone can make a difference in the global fight against HIV and AIDS. It's about people from different and diverse backgrounds pulling together, in the same direction, to inform and educate people of all ages about HIV and AIDS.

This year’s theme is “Women, Girls, HIV and AIDS,” which reflects a focus on how the effects of HIV/AIDS have significantly increased among women. Women now make up half of all people living with HIV worldwide, and 57 percent of these women live in sub-Saharan Africa. In that region, women are infected at an earlier age than men, and the ratio of new infections among women compared to men is even higher within the 15–24 age group. Poverty, instability, violence, lack of access to adequate health care, and ignorance all contribute to the problem.

In the United States, up to 950,000 Americans are estimated to have HIV, with 40,000 new infections every year. Among women, minorities—particularly African Americans—are hit by the vast majority of AIDS cases. Rates of HIV/AIDS diagnoses in African-American women are 19 times higher than those of white women and 5 times higher than those of Hispanic women in the 32 states with stable HIV/AIDS reporting. AIDS is one of the leading causes of death among all women aged 25-44 years.

Please join the Women at Risk Coalition in raising awareness about AIDS. The panel discussion with a light lunch provided will be held from 11 to 1:00 at 1112 SW Tennessee Avenue. If you would like more information about the Women at Risk Coalition, please contact Jennifer Whitehead at 351-1664.

For more information:

http://aids.org/
http://www.cdc.gov/