World AIDS Day

We've come a long way. In the nearly three decades since HIV first became known, so many things have changed--especially with how people understand the virus and their reactions to the infection. It took five years between the first reported AIDS case and a sitting U.S. president publicly saying the word 'AIDS', but today there are success stories about delivering HIV treatments to some of the poorest nations of the world.

Even with all these successes, still there is a long way to go. World AIDS Day is held annually on December 1 to promote awareness of the realities of HIV. For example, there are more than 33 million people living with HIV worldwide. But perhaps we also need a World AIDS-Hepatitis Day. A proportion of these 33 million people are at increased risk for developing acute hepatitis, especially hepatitis B or hepatitis C. The CDC estimates that hepatitis C co-infection is common (50%-90%) among HIV-infected injection drug users. It's important for people to understand how co-infection with either hepatitis or HIV can affect the treatment and management of either disease.

For more information, check out the Word Aids Day website at www.worldaidsday.org.