World AIDS Day… 30 years on |

This year marks the 30th year since the first HIV case was reported and since then an estimated 30 million people have died of AIDS-related illnesses. Another 33 million are carriers of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. The shocking truth is that many don't know that they are infected with HIV.

While the AIDS Clock is ticking… there is some good news to report. According to the United Nations, the number of HIV infections worldwide has declined in the last decade. Paradoxically, Canada is bucking the trend with rates of infection on the rise.

This is very disheartening. As Christopher Bunting, the president of the Canadian Foundation of AIDS Research (CANFAR) pointed out: "…Canadians need to re-engage with this issue. This disease is still with us…it just moved to the back burner…."

Why this complacency? Perhaps it's because HIV is no longer a death sentence due to medical advances. Antiretroviral medications, like the "Cocktail" keep patients alive for decades. As a matter of fact, life expectancy is only a few months shorter than for people without HIV. But what about the quality of life? What about the cost to the health care system and to society in general?

"Getting to Zero" is the theme selected by World AIDS Campaign (WAC) to commemorate this year's World AIDS Day. It echoes UNAIDS' vision of "Zero new HIV infections. Zero discrimination. Zero AIDS-related deaths." Here in Canada, we should also make this our rallying cry and do our share to aim for getting to zero.

For more information on HIV and AIDS and what you can do about it, here are some books you can check out from TPL. Just click on the book covers to place a hold.