The first World Aids Day was held in 1991, at a time when I was still going to the funeral of someone who had died with Aids at least once every month. Things have changed now. Thanks to powerful new drug treatments, people with HIV are now living fuller lives and the death rate has dropped by two-thirds in the last five years. This is great news, but it does mean that HIV has gradually slipped out of the media spotlight, and the importance and value of a day about Aids is now more clearly appreciated by those of us working in the voluntary and public sectors. That's one reason why tomorrow, World Aids Day, when we remember the 34m people worldwide who are living with HIV, is so important.
Men Make a Difference.
This serves to remind us that men play a vitally important part in preventing the spread of HIV, both in their sexual behaviour and also in their willingness to support HIV organisations and help raise the profile of the illness. Many heterosexual men believe HIV doesn't affect them and isn't relevant to them. This attitude is just as prevalent in developing countries where the bulk of the epidemic is among the heterosexual population. When it comes to giving donations to HIV charities, men are less likely than women to give time and money - they are less willing to give to street collections, less likely to wear a red ribbon at any time of year, and also less likely to become volunteers. Sometimes they are downright hostile, an attitude fuelled in part by the misconception that HIV only affects gay men.