On December 1, 1989 the first World AIDS Day was organized by the former Global Programme on AIDS (now UNAIDS).
The date was chosen intentionally at a time in the year where reporters are not bogged down with competing predictable stories (like the American federal election) to draw as much attention to meeting global comittments to fight AIDS as possible.Each year a theme is chosen to highlight areas that need improvement on the international stage.
In 1997, UNAIDS created the World AIDS Campaign to provide education and raise awareness all year round.
In Canada
Approximately 65,000 Canadians were living with HIV (or AIDS) in 2009, a 14% increase from the previous year. Gay men, injection drug users and heterosexual men are in the highest percent of people newly infected with HIV. First nations people continue to be over represented, accounting for 11% of all new infection in 2009.
Take Action
World AIDS Day campaigns can be found through the Canadian AIDS Society
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