World AIDS Day

When I sat down to write this post for World AIDS day, I wasn’t sure about which direction I should go in. I could tell you that the first World AIDS day was December 1st, 1988. I could tell you that the CDC estimates that 1.1 million people in the US alone are living with HIV, and that an estimated 33 million are living with it worldwide. But does that really tell you why World AIDS day exists?

The fact of the matter is, though we can go and Google those statistics and study them for ourselves, we still do not take HIV/AIDS seriously. Most people with the disease will tell you, “I never thought it could be me.” But it can. Just ask one of the 7500 people who learn they have HIV every day. Ask the families and friends left behind from the staggering 25 million people that have died from the disease since the first known case in 1981. So what does it take for us to take the disease seriously? What will make us get up and get tested, and take responsibility for ourselves?

World AIDS day can be celebrated however you want to. But as for me, I am going to celebrate by being responsible. So I will go and get tested and I will encourage others to do the same. And I won’t be ashamed to be seen taking the test, because I’ll have one of the best defenses against HIV: knowledge.