World AIDS Day commemorated across the globe
Since 1988, World AIDS Day has been held annually on December 1 to raise awareness of the spread of HIV/AIDS and its victims. Across the globe, people unite to show their support for people living with HIV and honor those who have died. Currently, according to the World Health Organization, 34 million people are living with HIV.
- An AIDS activist lights a group of candles placed in the shape of a red AIDS awareness ribbon during an event marking World AIDS Day in Manila, the capital fo the Philippines. Discrimination against homosexuals and people infected with HIV is contributing to the rapid rise of the incurable disease in the nation, officials and health activists said. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)
- An AIDS activist lights a group of candles placed in the shape of a red AIDS awareness ribbon during an event marking World AIDS Day in Manila, the capital fo the Philippines. Discrimination against homosexuals and people infected with HIV is contributing to the rapid rise of the incurable disease in the nation, officials and health activists said. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)
- The famous Belgian statue Manneken Pis (literally translated as Little Man Pee) is dressed as a condom during an event marking World AIDS Day in central Brussels. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
- This combo picture shows the famous Belgian statue Manneken Pis (literally translated as Little Man Pee) before and after it was dressed as a condom during an event commemorating World AIDS Day in central Brussels. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
- A visitor reads postcards showing support for HIV-positive patients during a World AIDS Day campaign in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)
- Visitors attach postcards showing support for HIV-positive individuals during a World AIDS Day campaign in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Dec. 1, 2012. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)
- Belarusian youths release balloons, which form the shape of the AIDS awareness ribbon, as they take part in an AIDS awareness campaign to mark World AIDS Day in the town of Smolevichi, some 25 miles east of Minsk. (Vasily Fedosenko/Reuters)
- Activists participate in a march to commemorate World AIDS Day, in San Salvador, El Salvador, on December 1, 2012. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images)
- Activists participate in a march to commemorate World AIDS Day, in San Salvador, El Salvador, on December 1, 2012. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images)
- Activists participate in a march to commemorate World AIDS Day, in San Salvador, El Salvador, on December 1, 2012. (Jose Cabezas/AFP/Getty Images)
- Belgium’s Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo greets a volunteer dressed as a condom during an event marking World AIDS Day in central Brussels. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
- An AIDS awareness activist working with Sensoa and ‘Plate-Forme Prevention Sida’ distributes free condoms in the Central Station in Brussels, for World AIDS Day. Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo also assisted in the distribution of red AIDS awareness ribbons and condoms. (Nicolas Maeterlinck/AFP/Getty Images)
- Students form a shape depicting the AIDS awareness ribbon near the Taj Mahal as they take part in a program commemorating World Aids Day in the northern Indian city of Agra. (Brijesh Singh/Reuters)
- University students sit near a display of letters as they write letters to India’s health ministry during World AIDS Day in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh. The students were demanding health insurance coverage for people living with HIV/AIDS, an organizer said. (Ajay Verma/Reuters)
- A man walks past a giant condom during an an event marking World AIDS Day in central Brussels, the capital of Belgium. (Francois Lenoir/Reuters)
- People hold lit candles during a ceremony to mark World AIDS day in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. (Tsvetelina Belutova/Reuters)
- People hold lit candles during a ceremony to mark World AIDS day in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. (Tsvetelina Belutova/Reuters)
- A woman gives out balloons during an event held on World AIDS Day, in Asuncion, Paraguay, on December 1, 2012. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)
- Volunteers hold hands on the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge in central Paris on December 1, 2012 to create a human chain to commemorate World AIDS Day. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)
- Volunteers hold hands on the Pont des Arts pedestrian bridge in central Paris on December 1, 2012 to create a human chain in the shape of a red AIDS awareness ribbon as part of World AIDS Day. (Miguel Medina/AFP/Getty Images)
- Youths hold candles as they kneel during a flash mob commemorating World AIDS Day in the center of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. (Nikolay Doychinov/AFP/Getty Images)
- Children receive inhalotherapy in the San Jose Hospice, in Sacatepequez, 28 miles west of Guatemala City, on World AIDS Day. About 68 HIV-infected children receive free medical care at the hospice. Many of them were found abandoned in markets, churches, fire stations, left neglected in hospitals or in some instances, brought in by their families who cannot afford to pay for their medical treatment. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)
- Children wait to take their medication in the San Jose Hospice, in Sacatepequez, 28 miles west of Guatemala City, on World AIDS Day. About 68 HIV-infected children receive free medical care at the hospice. Many of them were found abandoned in markets, churches, fire stations, left neglected in hospitals or in some instances, brought in by their families who cannot afford to pay for their medical treatment. (Jorge Dan Lopez/Reuters)
- AIDS activists carry placards during a protest march marking World AIDS Day in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, on December 1, 2012. Discrimination against homosexuals and people infected with HIV is contributing to the rapid rise of the incurable disease in the nation, officials and health activists said. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)
- An AIDS activist carrying a ribbon attends a protest marking World AIDS Day in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, on December 1, 2012. Discrimination against homosexuals and people infected with HIV is contributing to the rapid rise of the incurable disease in the nation, officials and health activists said. (Ted Aljibe/AFP/Getty Images)
- Volunteers and members of the “We Are Gay” organization offer condoms during an event held on World Aids Day, in Asuncion, Paraguay, on December 1, 2012. (Norberto Duarte/AFP/Getty Images)
- Indian nursing students hold a candlelight vigil in Amritsar to commemorate World AIDS Day on December 1, 2012. The UNAIDS agency says some 2.5 million Indians are living with HIV, with many of them ostracized by their communities.(Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images)
- Hundreds of Indonesian youths participate in the “Dance 4 Life” as part of a social awareness campaign against HIV/AIDS in commemoration of World AIDS Day in Jakarta. The southeast Asian nation’s incidence of HIV infection increased by more than 25 percent in adults aged 15 to 49 from 2001 to 2011, according to the UNAIDS 2012 Global Report. (Romeo Gacad/AFP/Getty Images)
- Pakistani activists from the People Health Movement carry placards to mark World AIDS Day in Karachi on December 1, 2012. More than 100,000 people suffer from HIV/AIDS in Pakistan, which has a population of 180 million, but only around 10,000 cases have been reported. (Rizwan Tabassum/AFP/Getty Images)
- A woman displays inflated condoms and a pamphlet during a World AIDS Day campaign in Jimbaran on Bali in Indonesia. The World Health Organization’s theme for World AIDS Day 2012 is “Getting to Zero: Zero new HIV infections. Zero deaths from AIDS-related illness. Zero discrimination.” (Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP/Getty Images)
- A Malaysian Muslim woman has her face painted during a World AIDS Day campaign in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on December 1, 2012. (Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images)
- A vendor inflates a balloon with an AIDS awareness message at a rally marking World AIDS Day in Mumbai, India on December 1, 2012. The UNAIDS agency says some 2.5 million Indians are living with HIV, with many of them ostracized by their communities. (Indranil Mukher/AFP/Getty Images)
- Commuters in Hanoi ride near a truck carrying a poster advertising World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, 2012. Since the first HIV case detected in 1990, the number of cases in Vietnam in 2012 is projected to be 280,000, or 0.47 percent of the Vietnamese population. (Hoang Dinh Nam/AFP/Getty Images)
- Visitors walk around the Monument of Independence, lit in red to mark World AIDS Day, on Independence Square in Kiev, Ukraine. (Anatolii Stepanov/Reuters)
- Thai students look at the preserved body of an AIDS victim displayed in a museum at Buddhist temple Wat Prabat Nampu on World AIDS Day in Lopburi, Thailand. The temple’s AIDS hospice is the largest of its kind in Thailand, providing housing for HIV-positive patients and palliative care for those in the final stages of the disease. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, the Thai Red Cross Society disclosed that the AIDS situation in Thailand has improved, while statistics indicated that two persons are infected with HIV/AIDS every hour on average, local media reported. (Damir Sagol/Reuters)
- A patient rests in a hospice for those dying of AIDS at Buddhist temple Wat Prabat Nampu on World AIDS Day in Lopburi, Thailand. The temple’s AIDS hospice is the largest of its kind in Thailand, providing housing for HIV positive patients and palliative care for those in the final stages of the disease. On the occasion of World AIDS Day, the Thai Red Cross Society disclosed that the AIDS situation in Thailand has improved, while statistics indicated that two persons are infected with HIV/AIDS every hour on average, local media reported. (Damir Sagol/Reuters)
- People walk near a red ribbon sand sculpture created by Indian sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik on the eve of World AIDS Day on a beach in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. (Reuters Photo)
- Supporters of people living with HIV and AIDS cast shadows on a banner as they march towards Heroes Shrine to mark World AIDS Day in Quezon City, Philippines. Around 100 Filipinos joined a rally on Saturday to mark World AIDS Day and express their solidarity with HIV/AIDS survivors. The Philippines is one of nine countries where the number of HIV infections were increasing by more than 25 percent, the United Nations said. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)
- A supporter of people living with HIV and AIDS joins a march to mark World AIDS Day at Heroes Shrine in Quezon City, Philippines. The Philippines is one of nine countries where the number of HIV infections were increasing by more than 25 percent, the United Nations said. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters)
- Karla Hernandez, an HIV-positive patient, rests on a bed at the Hospital Manolo Morales in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. (Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)
- A mother who is infected with HIV puts thanaka paste on her son at the HIV/AIDS hospice founded by a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, in the suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar on World AIDS Day. The child has taken an HIV test and is waiting on the result. (Minzayar/Reuters)
- A man infected with HIV rests at an HIV/AIDS hospice, founded by a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party, in the suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar, on World AIDS. (Minzayar/Reuters)
- Children suffering from HIV/AIDS line up to form an AIDS ribbon as they take part in an AIDS awareness campaign to mark World AIDS Day in Mumbai, India. The children are wearing masks in order to protect their identities, as AIDS still carries strong social stigmas in India, organizers said. (Danish Siddiqui/Reuters)