International fashion retailers and high-end luxury brands across the globe have joined hands to raise awareness and fight the debilitating immune-related condition, HIV/AIDS on the occasion of the World AIDS Day on Dec.1, 2011.Reuters
International fashion retailers and high-end luxury brands across the globe have joined hands to raise awareness and fight the debilitating immune-related condition, HIV/AIDS on the occasion of the World AIDS Day on Dec.1, 2011.ReutersVolunteers form the shape of a giant red ribbon to show their support ahead of World AIDS Day, in front of the landmark Taipei 101 LOVE sculpture.ReutersMyanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi talks to HIV/AIDS patients during a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day at the National League for Democracy's head office in Yangon.ReutersCollege students pose with HIV/AIDS awareness messages painted on their faces during an awareness campaign in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.ReutersParticipants pose for photographs as they form the word "AIDS" with condoms during a campaign promoting AIDS prevention, to commemorate World AIDS Day in Seoul, Korea.ReutersSydney fell one spot to No. 3.ReutersBritish musician Elton John gestures while making a speech at a World Aids Day reception in Sydney, Australia.ReutersA Buddhist monk waits to pray at a World AIDS Day commemoration in Colombo.ReutersNurses stand to form a Red Ribbon while holding a banner to mark World AIDS Day at a medical school in Yangzhou, China.ReutersA man wears a shirt depicting Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (L) and founder of an HIV/AIDS hospice Phyu Phyu Thin during a ceremony to mark World AIDS Day at the National League for Democracy's head office in Yangon.ReutersResearchers found that over the past 10 years, the number of patients resistant to antiretroviral therapy increased by 29 percent in East and Southern Africa.Reuters
30 years to the day since the first case of Aids was discovered in the UK, campaigners around the world are pushing for greater recognition and better treatment for this still little-understood disease.
Statistics suggest that nearly a quarter of HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their medical status, and a staggering 50 per cent have a late diagnosis.
HIV and Aids are of particualr concern in the developing world, where lack of health education and access to effective contraception often hastens the spread of the disease.
But despite the worrying statistics, hope remains, and scientists are making considereable headway in tackling the spread and onset of the disease.