Talking About World AIDS Day

Recently, December 1 marked the passing of World AIDS Day, a day aimed at educating people about the disease and increasing tolerance. It is an education that can be useful to our children.

“You’re a mommy," my seven-year-old daughter recently reminded me.

I am a mommy. Like most mommies I want my children to grow up safe, housed, healthy, and educated. And like most mommies, I try to provide experiences which speak to that. Recently, December 1marked World AIDS Day, and throughout our global village, conversations about HIV/AIDS will be taking place. During 2010, some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus, including an estimated 390,000 children, according to WorldsAidsDay.org. Despite a significant decline in the estimated number of AIDS-related deaths over the last five years, there were still an estimated 1.8 million AIDS-related deaths in 2010; it remains the leading cause of death for Sub-Sahara Africa.

In this country, targeted efforts at prevention and awareness have seen a marked decrease in the number of people infected with the virus, although residents living in low income communities are still affected in large numbers.

But we’ve seen what education has done. Thirty years ago, our very limited knowledge of the virus had us living in the dark ages where prejudice and ignorance reigned supreme. Talking to our children about HIV/AIDS remains important because it promotes greater understanding, teaches tolerance, and will help to put an end to this worldwide pandemic. I’m going to spend the morning school drive playing some of my fave old school tunes and talking about my best friend friend Lance who died from an AIDS-related illness in 1994.

For resources on how to talk to your children about HIV/AIDS or World Aids Day go to:

http://www.pbs.org

http://www.worldaidscampaign.org.