(CNSNews.com) - Everyone has the "right to live" and the "right to health." That's what the United Nations says as it prepares to mark World AIDS Day on December 1.
This year’s theme is “universal access and human rights,” the U.N. says on its World AIDS Day Web site. And because “human rights are often misunderstood,” the U.N. lists the “key slogans” for World AIDS Day, as follows:
I am accepted.
I am safe.
I am getting treatment.
I am well.
I am living my rights.
Everyone deserves to live their rights.
Right to Live.
Right to Health.
“Access for all to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support is a critical part of human rights,” the Web site says.
The concept of a World AIDS Day originated in 1988 at a summit of world health ministers. Even the White House observes the day, hanging a large red ribbon from the front portico, an event that dates back to the Bush White House in 2007.
The World Health Organization estimates that 33 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. But many of them don’t know it.
This year, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a global AIDS organization, is once again sponsoring a campaign to conduct millions of free HIV tests during the week leading up to Dec. 1. AHF says a similar campaign last year tested 1,603,272 people and identified 61,399 HIV positive individuals.
HIV and AIDS are spread by exposure to HIV-infected blood and body fluids, most often through sexual contact. With precautions, including changes in behavior, the disease is entirely preventable.