
World Aids Day is December 1. Sadly, we live in a serial culture that is always looking for the "next" thing, and the next charity cause seems to be a part of that. Once AIDS seems to leave our neighborhoods, once it moves to the less affluent or to black neighborhoods or to Africa and away from Ryan White, our culture also seems to forget that there are millions of people still suffering and dying of this un-cureable disease.
× There are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children.
× Around 2.7 million people became infected with HIV in 2008.
× In sub-Saharan Africa the AIDS epidemic has orphaned nearly 12 million children.
× 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.
× In America, infection rates are rising.
× The red ribbon started as a "grass roots" effort; as a result there is no one official AIDS ribbon manufacturer, and many people make their own. It's easily done - just use some ordinary red ribbon and a safety pin!
( × Let your LJ wear a ribbon also! )Vote for My Best Icons @ Pick My Best!