World AIDS Day, 2025

Today is World AIDS Day. Ever since the World Health Organization established December 1st as this day in 1988, it has been observed. HIV and AIDS doesn't get the headlines it once did, for good reasons and less encouraging ones. As you may know, HIV attacks the immune system and once your cells have been depleted enough by HIV, you reach AIDS status. 

Since the 1980s, there have been incredible achievements in treating HIV/AIDS so that many people diagnosed with HIV never even find their immune system compromised enough to have AIDS--the many medicines and treatments help keep the virus at bay to the point where it is basically undetectable in their system. When HIV/AIDS was considered a terrifying death sentence, it got tons of press and was at times horrifically misrepresented and used as a way to demonize entire groups of people. Now, HIV/AIDS is something people can live with and eventually--when older--die with, not of. This is encouraging, but the lack of attention HIV/AIDS now gets is discouraging, as it is still here and has killed so many before we achieved advancements in treating patients. 

With treatment, the tide turned.

The current Trump administration has drastically cut funding for research into the treatment of HIV, and the U.S. isn't officially recognizing World AIDS Day for the first time since 1988. Donald Trump and his cronies cutting money to programs that help people isn't surprising, but refusing to even acknowledge World AIDS Day just feels like an extra twist of the metaphorical knife in the back for those who do want to use today for remembrance of the past and hope for the future.

At one point, I was employed by a nonprofit that assisted individuals with HIV/AIDS via a grant and the Ryan White Care Act to ensure those with HIV/AIDS would have any expenses relating to their diagnosis that insurance/Medicare/Medicaid did not fund covered. It was a great job, and I met and served a wide range of people, which goes to show how HIV/AIDS impacts us all. I had to leave the job when our first child, Clarkson, was born prematurely, and it was necessary for a parent to stay home. Researching how to help those with HIV/AIDS, how to prevent it, and how to maybe even someday hopefully cure it is important. Even if there is less attention paid to HIV and AIDS now, that doesn't mean it is of little concern. 

Some parts of the World struggle to get access to preventative methods or lifesaving drugs, there is still much to be done, and that is why World AIDS Day remains important in 2025. Even if our viciously incompetent and spiteful politicians in currently in power choose to ignore the importance of today, millions of people will mark it on their calendar and use the time to reflect and then be ready to react as needed. Today is World AIDS Day, and HIV/AIDS has impacted our planet and continues to do so. I can only hope a day comes when we only need to reflect (as I mentioned earlier) as a cure has been found/made. Someday.

World AIDS Day 2023

It is World AIDS Day. We continue as a World to fight HIV/AIDS and I sincerely hope that in my lifetime I can see this illness eliminated via a cure/vaccine/etc. As readers of the blog are aware, I worked for a nonprofit that helped spread knowledge about sexually transmitted infections and assisted those with HIV/AIDS at acquiring their medications for cheap or free. Besides being a stay-at-home parent (which is a job for sure) it is the work I am proudest of having done in my lifetime so far. Even if it doesn't get as many headlines these days as it used to, HIV/AIDS is still an epidemic, and still deserves our attention. Efforts are always being made to help combat this illness and help those with it. Between education, prevention, and treatment I'm sure much progress can be made in fighting HIV/AIDS. That's my hope, at least.

World AIDS Day 2022

Since 1988, December 1st of every year has been World AIDS Day. Amazing progress has been made in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but there is still a lot more to do. Plans are always being updated in the fight against HIV/AIDS and hopefully, someday, we can create a vaccine/cure/etc. and make it a thing of the past.

Take a Moment to Commemorate World AIDS Day

Since December 1st, 1988, the day has been designated as World AIDS Day. I have of course worked in public health and spent time working with an agency that assisted those with HIV/AIDS and educated others about HIV/AIDS as well. Named Williams and Associates, they continue to engage great work as do the countless others who strive to inform others about HIV/AIDS and provide assistance to those impacted by it. So many millions of lives have been lost to HIV/AIDS and while prevention and education have done a lot to help, there still is much to be done.

World AIDS Day is Today

Today is December 1st, also known as World AIDS Day. Established in 1988 this is a day of remembrance for all those we have lost to HIV and AIDS as well as a time to note how far we've come--plus how much further there is to go. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) can lead to an AIDS status when a person's immune system reaches a very low level--a CD4 level that could be as reduced as the low hundreds or even single digits (to put that in perspective, someone without HIV could have a CD4 of 1600) this of course can result in a person getting sick easier with a variety of opportunistic infections. Whereas when AIDS was first identified decades ago it was thought of as a death sentence it now is a treatable chronic condition.

If you are sexually active you should always make sure to regularly get tested as you have no excuse to be unaware of your HIV status. I no longer currently work in Public Health as the premature birth of our son, Clarkson, resulted in my wife and I deciding together for me to stay home. That said, I still am passionate about Health and as I worked in Medical Case Management assisting individuals with HIV as well as informing people about it, I just wanted to make sure all my readers were aware what today was, and how I would encourage them to know their status. There are numerous places to get tested and should someone live in the Saint Louis region I would for sure encourage them to visit my former employer, Williams and Associates, for a free HIV test as well as safer-sex supplies!