World AIDS Day
On December 1st, 2008,The 20th anniversary of the World AIDS Day is celebrated. This year, the chosen slogan was “ Lead, Empower, Deliver”, motto which, according to the United Nations is linked the theme of last year which was "take the lead" and pointed to the need for political leaders to meet their commitments to help the cause and to try and highlight the difference between what was agreed and what was done until now, as regards the fight against this diseas, which has become one of the most destructive epidemics in history.
 This date was chosen because the first case of AIDS was diagnosed in the first December 1981. Since then, the HIV/AIDS has already cost the lives of 25 million people throughout the world and, according to the report of the United Nations, currently there are more than 33 million people infected throughout the world, 70 % of whom live in Sub- Saharan Africa and the majority are children, girls and women.
The concept of world day originates at the World Meeting of the Ministries of Health in 1988, which brought together governments, international organizations, and the various sectors of society. Since then, these people and institutions have taken the initiative to meet annually with the objective of developing activities to halt and begin to reverse the spread of disease.
Currently according to the report provided by UNAIDS, the epidemic is stabilizing, but at a level unacceptably high. The annual number of new infections decreased from 3,0 million in 2001 to 2,7 million in 2007.
The secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, on the occasion of World AISD Day, said: "Aids is still one of the 10 main causes of death in the world, and it is the main killer in Africa", he said. "We must stop the stigma and discrimination which is the reason why many people still do not know how to prevent the disease and or how to seek treatment. We must have enough money in order to provide significant and impactful services to communities and entire nations.”
According to the UNAIDS, despite considerable progress which has been made in many countries to face the epidemic regarding the reduction in the number of cases of death by AIDS and the prevention of new infections, progress remains uneven and the future of the epidemic is still uncertain. These data require reinforced action in order to move toward the universal access in terms of prevention, treatment and support related to HIV.
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