World AIDS Day is December 1, 2003!
World AIDS Day is celebrated around the world, and there are special events planned in most countries, including Ethiopia.
The theme for this year, like last year, is on stigma and discrimination. “Live and Let Live” is the campaign slogan. People are encouraged to break the silence and overcome the barriers to good HIV/AIDS prevention and care.
Whatever you do, whether you are:
a health care worker,
part of a religious organization,
the manager or owner of a business,
a government worker,
a lawyer,
a teacher,
a journalist,
a mother or father, or
a student,
YOU can do something this World AIDS Day to make a difference. In celebration of World AIDS Day, here are some things you can do to learn about AIDS and stigma, learn how to fight stigma and discrimination in your community, and have some fun too!
Click on the links below if you want to:
Do Something for World AIDS Day
Learn Something or Share Something About HIV/AIDS
VISIT WEBSITES About World AIDS Day
HAVE SOME FUN On World AIDS Day
Do Something for World AIDS Day
There are many things you can do to celebrate World AIDS Day and fight stigma and discrimination.
You could:
- Try to mention HIV/AIDS at least one time on World AIDS Day. You might be scared to talk about HIV in public, but if you know a fact about HIV that will make people more comfortable around people with HIV, share it! Try hard to be sensitive to those people who have HIV, and avoid being judgmental.
- Plan an activity in your community or workplace to celebrate World AIDS Day. This could be a short drama, a workshop or meeting in your office, a movie showing in a community theater or a house, playing a sport to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS, or giving a quiz about HIV/AIDS to your friends to test their knowledge about HIV/AIDS.
- Visit someone who has HIV or AIDS on World AIDS Day. Spending time with people who have HIV or AIDS shows them that you care, and that you’re not afraid. If you know someone who has HIV but is not feeling sick, spend the afternoon with them at a shai bet or have dinner together. If you know someone who has HIV and is feeling sick with AIDS, spend the afternoon with them and bring them a gift, some food, tell them a story, or just spend time talking together. You will make them feel just as they should – like a human being.
Learn Something or Share Something About HIV/AIDS
Learn something or share something:
- Read a message from UNAIDS
- Stigma-AIDS eForum is an electronic listserv you can join that provides a place where knowledge, experience and practical solutions about stigma and HIV can be discussed and shared.
VISIT WEBSITES About World AIDS Day
Check out these websites:
- The United Nations and the World Health Organization jointly sponsor World AIDS Day. They have a great website for World AIDS Day, with campaign documents, background information, ads, full-color posters, hotline information, and great links to other sites.
- The UK’s National AIDS Trust is celebrating World AIDS Day on this website, a good place to learn more about the campaign, events to raise awareness and prevent stigma, and find relevant news and events.
HAVE SOME FUN On World AIDS Day
Have some fun: