Each year World AIDS Day (WAD) is observed on December 1st and provides an opportunity for people around the world to unite in the fight against HIV/AIDS, show their support for people living with HIV/AIDS and commemorate people who have died. WAD was first observed in 1988, making it the first ever international health day. The National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) encourages everyone to use WAD as a platform to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in your community and around the world. You can use the materials in NHCOA’s 2013 WAD toolkit to help in your outreach efforts.

More than 25 million people have died of AIDS worldwide since the first case of HIV was observed over 30 years ago in the U.S. What was once considered to be a death sentence is now classified as a manageable chronic disease. While unprecedented advances in medical treatment have been made, there is still much work to be done in the quest to make an AIDS-free generation a reality. Today 33.4 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide.

Domestically, over 1 million people in the U.S. are living with HIV. Hispanics continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Hispanics account for approximately 17 percent of the U.S. population, but comprised 21 perfect of new HIV infections in 2010. As such, the rate of new HIV infections for Hispanics is three times the rate for non-Hispanic whites.

However, HIV/AIDS doesn’t just affect the health of individuals living with it; it impacts families, friends and communities, as well as the development and economic growth of nations. Many of the countries hardest hit by HIV also suffer from other infection diseases, food insecurity and other serious issues.

Although WAD provides a great opportunity to for public discourse about HIV/AIDS, it’s important to continue these efforts throughout the year. This is why NHCOA joined the fight against HIV/AIDS in 2011, becoming one of three national Hispanic/Latino partners of the CDC’s Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative (AAALI), a multi-year national communication initiative to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS among diverse communities. NHCOA uses community outreach and communication efforts to reach and inform Latino senior, their families, and caregivers about HIV/AIDS, as well encourage them to talk HIV in their communities and with loved ones.