World AIDS Day: What Can You Do?

People around the globe are commemorating World AIDS Day with vigils, protests, community events, and other festivities. Here's a look at what some are doing to commemorate this day, and how you can join them:

- Because 1/5 Americans with HIV don't know they carry the virus, Greater Than AIDS is asking people to go get tested. To find an HIV testing Center and learn more about what a test entails, go to GreaterThanAIDS.org/Get-Tested.

- Celebrities are "dying" to save the lives of others. Stars like Alicia Keys, Ryan Seacrest and Kim Kardashian are killing off their social media lives -- no Facebook or Twitter -- until $1 million is raised for the Keep a Child Alive Foundation. To donate, go to BuyLife.org

- Turn Red: (Red) is asking people to dedicate their social networking profiles to shed light on the goal of eliminating mother-to-child HIV transmission by 2015. Go to JoinRed.com for more information and to go (Red).

- Nine people were arrested on World AIDS Day while protesting New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's attendance at a breakfast in Brooklyn in commemoration of the global event. The activists' "schmear" campaign (they were dressed as bagels) was to highlight the fact that Bloomberg was attending the breakfast despite not supporting a failed bill that would have capped housing costs for people with HIV/AIDS to 30% of their income. Join Housing Works, which organized the protest, as they hold a 24-hour vigil tonight at City Hall Park.

- If you can, peruse the British newspaper, The Independent, as Sir Elton John is wielding a pen to edit the periodical on Wednesday. The December 1 issue will feature several pages on HIV, as well as contributions from other famous AIDS advocates, Elizabeth Taylor and comedian Stephen Fry.

Are you doing anything to commemorate World AIDS Day? Follow us on Facebook or Twitter, and tell us about it.