December 1 is Worlds Aids Day. No, it is not a Baha’i Holiday or event but a day that should be commemorated and observed. HIV and AIDS have been affecting people for years and it is time that we find acceptance and hopefully a cure.
Some scary facts out there are that HIV and AIDS are claiming more than 8,000 lives every day that breaks down to five every minute.
There are only four ways you can contract HIV:
1. Unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected partner (the most common);
2. Sharing of contaminated needles or skin piercing equipment;
3. Blood and blood products through, infected transfusions and organ or tissue transplants;
4. Transmitted from an infected mother to child in the womb, at birth or by breast-feeding.
You CANNOT get HIV by casual contact, coughing, sneezing, kissing, sharing a toilet or washing facilities, eating utensils or consuming food and beverages handled by someone who has HIV. It is NOT spread by mosquitoes or other insect bites.
Knowledge is power they say. I know I will wear a red ribbon on December 1. I have been fortunate that no one I know has had HIV or AIDS. I do know that if I knew someone that did, as a Baha’i I would not judge them and I would try to support them in anyway possible.
For more information on the Baha’i Faith:Baha'i Links
