Today is World AIDS Day

(cross posted from my LiveJournal)

I meant to queue up a post last night so I could publish it before heading to work this morning. I wanted to remind everyone to wear their red ribbons and buy mochas at Starbucks. In my post-revisions-sprint haze, I forgot. In fact, I forgot to wear my own ribbon to work, so I made a fake one with a post-it note and a red Sharpie marker and taped it to my sweater. All day, I lamented the fact that I wasn't able to get my Starbucks reminder out to my corner of the LJ community and tried to decide how I would make an effective, impactful post late in the day after--I was certain--the majority of my f-list would have already acknowledged the solemn occasion.

It's 11:20 p.m. here, and there are no World AIDS Day posts on my f-list.

This post is not meant in any way to judge or criticize those who didn't acknowledge the day. As I mentioned, I forgot my own ribbon in midst of the day's hectic routine. But what I find so deeply disappointing is that I think this is representative of the state of the AIDS crisis. It's fallen to the wayside, lost in a sea of global tragedies that compete daily for our attention.

Today is the 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day. And while the disease has continued to wrap its hungry mouth around the globe, the media coverage has waned year after year. According to the Centers for Disease Control, nearly 7,500 people are infected with HIV everyday. 33 million people worldwide, 1.1 million in the U.S. alone, are living with HIV. We know how to prevent the spread of this disease. This shouldn't be happening.

There are many more things I want to say. Too many.

Please educate yourselves and those around you. Please be careful. And please take a moment to remember those who have died of AIDS--many alone, ostracized from their family and "friends"--and send out a wish for those who are living with HIV or AIDS. We can't afford to forget.