Dec 2, 2013

Sunday brought the 25th commemoration of World AIDS Day, an event meant to boost awareness of the spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. UNAIDS, a United Nations program, estimates 1.6 million people died from AIDS-related illnesses in 2012.

Baltimore, where the Washington Monument was illuminated in red to mark World AIDS Day, is consistently ranked as having one of the nation’s top 10 urban HIV infection rates.

: A Nepalese transgender performer poses for a photograph backstage during an event to mark the 26th World AIDS Day in Kathmandu on December 1, 2013. Approximately 48,600 adults and children are infected with HIV in Nepal, according to the government’s National Centre for AIDS and STD Control. (Prakash Mathe/AFP/Getty Images)

: Activists form a chain of solidarity for World AIDS day on the Pont des Arts in Paris on December 1, 2013. (Francois Guillot/AFP/Getty Images)

: A red ribbon is displayed on the North Portico of the White House in honor of World AIDS Day December 1, 2013 in Washington, D.C. In its annual report on the state of the global pandemic released in September, UNAIDS said new HIV infections had plummeted by a third overall since 2001 and more than halved among children. Twenty-five countries — many in sub-Saharan Africa — reported a 50 percent reduction in new infections last year due to increased availability of treatments. Last year 1.6 million people died from AIDS-related causes, down from 2.3 million in 2005, according to the United Nations. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

: A Nepalese artist paints a slogan across the torso of a participant during an event to mark the 26th World AIDS Day in Kathmandu on December 1, 2013. Approximately 48,600 adults and children are infected with HIV in Nepal, according to the government’s National Centre for AIDS and STD Control. (Prakash Mathe/AFP/Getty Images)

: Sri Lankan prisoners hold placards as they take part in a gathering to mark World AIDS Day at a prison complex in Colombo on December 1, 2013. Some 1,808 HIV positive cases have reportedly been identified in the country between 1987 and the end of November 2013. (Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP/Getty Images)

: Banners for AIDS awareness are held by soccer players during a charity match for World AIDS Day in Lagos, Nigeria, November 30, 2013. World AIDS Day is observed annually on December 1. (Akintunde Akinleye/Reuters)

: Indian fine arts students from Allahabad University make a sand sculpture to highlight AIDS awareness on the eve of World AIDS Day at Sangam in Allahabad, India on November 30, 2013. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images)

: A man, who has HIV, lies on his bed at HIV/AIDS hospice, founded by a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party in suburbs of Yangon, Myanmar, December 1, 2013. (Soe Zeya Tun/Myanmar)

: Candles form a red ribbon in Berlin, on November 30, 2013, the evening before World AIDS Day. (Florian Schuh/AFP/Getty Images)

: Indian NGO workers arrange banners and red ribbon cutouts on a boat along the holy river Ganges to highlight AIDS awareness on the eve of World AIDS Day in Kolkata, India on November 30, 2013. World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1 every year to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. (Dibyangshu Sarkar/AFP/Getty Images)

: Maarten Hoogstraten of The Bingo Players performs during DANCE (RED) SAVE LIVES at Stereosonic Sydney on December 1, 2013 in Sydney, Australia. (Graham Denholm/Getty Images for DANCE (RED) SAVE LIVES)

: People take balloons before a march ahead of World AIDS Day 2013 at Kandawgyi garden in Yangon, Myanmar on November 30, 2013. About one thousand people, including HIV/AIDS patients, attended the event. World AIDS day is observed December 1, 2013. (Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters)

: South Korean students pose in the shape of a red ribbon during an event to promote awareness of AIDS at Cheonggyecheon on December 1, 2013 in Seoul, South Korea. Seoul Metropolitan Government and The Korean Federation for HIV/AIDS Prevention held a campaign in downtown Seoul to mark the 26th commemoration of World AIDS Day on December 1. (Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

: People launch sky lanterns during a ceremony to raise awareness about AIDS on the eve of World AIDS Day in Lahore, Pakistan on November 30, 2013. World AIDS Day is observed annually on December 1. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

: A man launches a sky lantern during a ceremony to raise awareness about AIDS on the eve of World AIDS Day in Lahore, Pakistan, November 30, 2013. (Mohsin Raza/Reuters)

: A group of passersby pins red ribbons onto a display cloth as part of a World AIDS Day campaign in Liaocheng, Shandong province, China on December 1, 2013. UNAIDS estimates that there are 780,000 people living with HIV in China. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

: Indian sandartist Sudersan Pattnaik gives the final touches to a sand sculpture on the eve of World AIDS Day, as a horseman rides by on Golden Sea Beach in Puri, some 65 kms east of Bhubaneswar, India on November 29, 2013. World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1, every year to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. (Asit Kumar/STR/AFP/Getty Images)

: Students take part on a World AIDS Day commemoration by lighting up a candle shaped like the red ribbon symbol in Surabaya, East Java province, Indonesia on November 30, 2013. The number of known HIV/AIDS cases in Indonesia has almost tripled since 2005, AIDS commission head Nafsiah Mboi said. (Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images)

: Members of the LGBT community take part in a Gay Parade in Ahmedabad on December 1, 2013. The event was organized to coincide with World AIDS Day and create awareness of LGBT rights. (Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images)

: An Indian AIDS activist dressed as a demon as part of an awareness campaign, poses as he walks along a road on the occasion of World AIDS Day in Bhubaneswar on December 1, 2013. World AIDS Day is celebrated on December 1, every year to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and to demonstrate international solidarity in the face of the pandemic. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

: Three makeup artists wear red ribbon earrings during a press conference at World AIDS Day in Taipei on December 1, 2013. (Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images)

Baltimore’s Washington Monument glows red for World AIDS Day
By Colin Campbell, The Baltimore Sun
December 1, 2013

A small service and a moment of silence under a glowing-red Washington Monument commemorated World AIDS Day in Mount Vernon Sunday evening.

The Rev. Joseph Muth of St. Matthew Catholic Church on Loch Raven Boulevard told the roughly two dozen gathered in Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church before the monument lighting that the city’s goal is to “get to zero.”

“When we were in school, zero was a failure,” Muth said. “Now we’re in a different school.”

25th annual World AIDS Day commemorated

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