December 1st is World AIDS Day, a day for people worldwide to join together to fight HIV and remember those who have lost their battle.
World AIDS day was held for the first time in 1988 and it was the first ever global health day.
Here are some numbers:
- It is estimated that globally 34 million people have HIV.
- In the United States, there are 1.2 million people living with HIV.
- It is estimated by the CDC that in the Untied States 1 in 8 people with HIV do not even know that they have it; this is especially dangerous because they are not receiving the treatment that they need and they could potentially be passing on the virus to others.
- Young people are the group most likely to not know that they are infected.
- The number of new HIV diagnoses fell 19% since 2005.
- 1 in 10 HIV diagnoses come from people who inject drugs.
- In 2014, 6,721 people died from HIV and AIDS; it is the 8th leading cause of death for people aged 25-34. (CDC 2016)
Valley-Wide clinics provide free, confidential Ryan White HIV/AIDS testing.
