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Last week's events, marking the fight to end the disease that haskilled 30 million people over 30 years, saw the Sydney Opera Houselit up in red and the Centre Pompidou in Paris covered in blue,plastic condoms. Governments came out to renew their pledges,activists took to the streets, and generally everyone ended arousing 24 hours feeling a bit better for themselves. But with the news vans packed up and the newspaper headlines backto talk of debt crises and the Arab Spring, the only reminder ofAIDS is the same complacency that helped enable its existence for30 years and counting. While December 1 is officially World AIDS Day, in reality, it iseveryday. Did you know that 7,400 people continue to be infectedwith HIV daily? Did you know that women of reproductive age are nowmore likely to die of an AIDS-related illness than anything else?And, did you know that getting tested, knowing your status andaccessing treatment can literally save your life? For an AIDS activist, this year has been an especially steeplearning curve. At the 2011 High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New Yorkin June, politicians recalled how even 10 years ago, mentioning theword "AIDS" was difficult in "polite company." Now, of course, not only is it a growing part of the core politicaldialogue, but heads of state and government from Chinese PremierWen Jiabao to South African President Jacob Zuma have spoken outstrongly for the rights of the 34 million people living with HIVtoday. But it has to continue and it has to accelerate. UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe said it best when hereminded the human family last week that we, as a world, stand at acritical crossroads. While science and leadership have helped drivedown new infections by more than 20 percent since 1997, and thelevel of incidence has diminished in no less than 22 countriesthroughout sub-Saharan Africa, HIV is still here. Thousands ofpeople are still being needlessly infected everyday. Unlike 30years ago, we now know what HIV is, how we are infected andcrucially how we can protect ourselves. We need to renew our commitments, we need to be smarter with ourapproaches and, yes, even in this financial slowdown, we need tocontinue with funding, because investing in health is investing inlives. Get this right and we could be rewriting history forever. Thisparticular piece of history began in June 1981 when the first knowncases of HIV were identified in the United States. In those days itwas labeled a "gay cancer" - a tragic phrasing of words thatdirectly led to the misinformation and misunderstanding that madeso many complacent. But there is plenty of hope. Of all the high-risk groups, I thinkthat the greatest chance lies with our youth. Because not only areyoung people standing on the front lines when it comes to new HIVinfections, but they have fresh and innovative ideas that will helpus build new thinking on how to transform approaches for a fourthdecade of AIDS. One such example is , a revolutionary website that crowdsources a new strategy on HIVand youth. But social media alone isn't going to save the world. What we needmost is love. Too often, we talk about HIV-positive people in terms of numbersand statistics and not enough with value as individuals, familiesand communities. And while the end can seem a long way off, we areso, so close to living in a world that in a few, short years couldbe free of new HIV infections and AIDS-related deaths. Imagine that. The author is a CCTV-News television presenter and UNAIDS GoodwillAmbassador. james@james-chau.com. I am an expert from industrial-lightingfixture.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Led Commercial Lighting Fixtures , Brightest Led Headlamp Manufacturer, Mining Cap Lamp,and more.
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