Sustainable Development Networking Programme, SDNP, Bangladesh
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World AIDS Day 2005
 "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise"
 1st December, 2005

   

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World  Aids Day 2005

According to UNAIDS estimates, there are 38 million adults and 2.3 million children living with HIV, and during 2005 some 4.9 million people became newly infected with the virus. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35.

Around 95% of people with HIV/AIDS live in developing nations. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world.

Started in 1988, World AIDS Day is not just about raising money, but also about increasing awareness, education and fighting prejudice. World AIDS Day is important in reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.

For many years, World AIDS Day has been organised by UNAIDS, who have chosen the theme after consultation with other organisations. However, in 2005 UNAIDS handed over responsibility for World AIDS Day to an independent organisation known as The World AIDS Campaign (WAC).

The WAC’s theme for their campaign is "Stop AIDS: Keep the Promise". This theme is however not specific to World AIDS Day alone but to the work the WAC does throughout the year. It will also remain the focus until 2010.

This change in the way that World AIDS Day is organised has caused some confusion among HIV & AIDS organisations. Some have chosen to adopt “Stop AIDS; Keep the Promise” as their theme for World AIDS Day 2005. Others have, for the first time, picked their own topic for the events they’re holding this year on 1st December. Whatever you decide to do for World AIDS Day however, the most important thing is that you follow its basic principals by raising awareness and understanding where you live and by remembering the millions living with HIV or suffering because of AIDS.

"Keep the Promise" is an appeal to governments and policy makers to ensure they meet the targets they have agreed to in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Some of the most important of these promises are contained in the UNGASS Declaration and the 3 by 5 Initiative:

The UNGASS Declaration of Commitment was signed by all 189 members of the UN in June 2001. The governments of these countries committed themselves to taking action on HIV and AIDS in the fields of leadership, prevention, care and support, treatment, reducing vulnerability, and human rights. The following targets were set for the end of 2005:

  • Reduce HIV prevalence by 25% among men and women aged 15-24 in the most affected countries.
     
  • Ensure that at least 90% of young people aged 15 to 24 have access to the information, education and services necessary to develop the life skills required to reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection.
     
  • Reduce the proportion of infants infected with HIV by 20% by increasing access to services which prevent mother-to-child transmission.
     
  • Increase annual spending on HIV and AIDS to $7-10 billion in low and middle-income countries and those countries experiencing or at risk of experiencing rapid expansion of HIV epidemics.

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