World AIDS Day At A Glance

Founded in 1988, World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day. 

Today knowledge and education about HIV and AIDS is more widely available in comparison to just a few decades ago and medication has significantly advanced so much so that those who have HIV and who take their medication have "normal" life expectancy rates. However, it is important to note that diagnoses rates of HIV are still worryingly high. While higher rates of diagnosis might be tied into the fact that people are availing of testing - which is a good thing, prevention of the spread of the disease is still something that is a concern. Diagnosis is a problem too in third world and developing nations where access to good healthcare can be scarce and a major stigma is attached to the disease.

Despite much progress, HIV remains a global public health threat. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2017, worldwide approximately 36.9 million people were living with HIV, an estimated 940,000 people died from AIDS-related illnesses, and about 1.8 million people were newly infected with HIV.

The theme of World AIDS Day 2018 is "know your status" as the UN reports that many millions are HIV positive without even being aware of it; this of course presents further issues to the continued spread of the disease. Education and medical access are key elements to the fight against the epidemic and billions of Dollars will continue to be required globally in order to reinforce the battle.

This info graphic from Carvaka serves to highlight the origins of HIV and AIDS; it examines the timeline of the disease; it looks at some stark and standout statistics; it points out some positives from the fight against HIV and AIDS and it also focuses on the work of World AIDS Day itself.

Check the full graphic out below.