Red ribbons to show support of World AIDS Day
PRESQUE ISLE — Dec. 1 is recognized as World AIDS Day. To help raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, community members are requested to wear a red ribbon during the month of December. As of Dec. 31, 2009, 1,462 Maine people have tested positive for HIV/AIDS. In Aroostook County, there are currently 40 people diagnosed positive with HIV/AIDS.
According to Advocates for Youth, this day was first set aside in December 1988 to raise and increase awareness, fight prejudice and improve education about AIDS. World AIDS Day’s importance is to remind people that HIV and AIDS have not gone away, and that much still needs to be done to help reduce the rate of people contracting this virus. HIV has been around for more than two decades and reportedly 4,261 people are diagnosed each month with this virus worldwide. HIV destroys the body’s immune system, which makes a person more vulnerable to other infections, including the common cold or the flu virus.
World AIDS Day, originally organized by United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), reported that an estimated 31.3 million adults and 2.1 million children were living with HIV at the end of 2008, while 2 million people died from the disease – a high global trend.
HIV testing is available at ACAP Health Services family planning sites in Fort Kent, Presque Isle and Houlton. Appointments can be made by calling 1-800-432-7881 and asking for the health center nearest you. All testing is anonymous and needle-free. ACAP encourages everyone to get tested to know your status. There is a small fee of $26.50 associated with this testing.
For more information, call Wendy Page, ACAP community education specialist, at 768-3026.
