World AIDS Day

Learn more and take action

Every year on Dec. 1, people worldwide unite in the fight against HIV—a virus that an estimated 34 million people across the globe have. HIV can lead to AIDS, which is a condition that progressively damages and kills the body’s immune system cells, destroying the body’s ability to fight infections and cancers.

There are a variety of ways in which HIV can be passed from person to person, including the following:
• Having unprotected sex with someone who is infected
• Using needles or syringes that have been used by people who are infected
• Receiving infected blood products or transplanted organs
• Transmission from a mother to her child

Although scientific advances have been made in HIV treatment, and we understand much more about the condition than we did when it was first identified, the virus still plagues our world and is particularly destructive in developing countries. For more information about how you can help, visit www.worldaidsday.org.

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