Importance Of HIV Testing Highlighted On World Days Day

While the volunteers received a warm welcome from most people, the executive director of AIDS Moncton, Debbie Warren, says there is still a stigma attached to HIV and AIDS.

World AIDS Day was first recognized in 1988.

From left, Angela Vick and Julieta Giner hug before releasing balloons to mark World AIDS Day on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015 in Durham, N.C. Vick, a motivational speaker, has been HIV-positive for almost eight years.

The expansion of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has resulted in a reduction of AIDS-related deaths, the WHO statement said on the occasion of the World AIDS Day.

While new cases of HIV/AIDS in the state are falling, officials emphasize the importance of getting screened and taking preventative methods. Georgia ranks second in the country for the diagnosis of new HIV infections, and Atlanta ranks fifth among similar metropolitan areas in the country for new diagnoses.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says more than 1.2 million Americans are living with HIV and roughly one in eight is unaware of his or her infection.

Millions of people around the world are infected with the HIV virus…which causes aids.

National AIDS Programme Coordinator in the Ministry of Health, Gardenia Destang Richardson, said the Ministry is now focusing on partnering with businesses to increase HIV awareness. Last year Ingham County had 25 new cases.

He said interventions such as prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission of HIV should fully be implemented to ensure that no child born to an HIV positive mother gets infected. He said anyone who thinks they might have been exposed to HIV should get tested. This disease no longer needs to be a death sentence.