‘Stop AIDS, Keep The Promise’: World AIDS Day Marks 20th Anniversary

“As New York City happens to be the epicenter for HIV and AIDS in America, it is imperative for all of us to take up the mantel of strong leadership and commitment,” says Oliver W. Martin III, board member of the Riverside Church Global HIV and AIDS Ministry. As New Yorkers and people around the world prepare to mark the 20th Anniversary of World AIDS Day on December 1 with the theme of Leadership, Martin’s words ring true for the global effort to stop AIDS.
Martin said that today’s youth are dependent upon the help of World AIDS Day participants to eradicate HIV and AIDS within this generation. “In the twenty years since the launch of the first World AIDS Day in 1988, there have been many successes in our ability to combat HIV,” he said. “An epidemic that was previously thought of as unstoppable is considered controllable.” Among these successes is the fact that a life expectancy for those with HIV, which was once a matter of months, is now decades, Martin says.
The World AIDS Campaign was established to support, strengthen and connect campaigns that hold leaders accountable for their promises on HIV and AIDS efforts. Led by a Global Steering Committee made up of representatives of global networks with affiliates that have HIV campaigning and advocacy at their core, the campaign has been instrumental over the past two decades.
Though World AIDS Day is a culmination of the efforts to bring attention to the AIDS epidemic, there are global initiatives year-round, supported by the World AIDS Campaign, that address issues central to ending the disease. The international G8 forum, for instance, brings together representatives from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russian, United Kingdom and the United States, who address the lack of AIDS financing, weak health systems, and lack of accountability on AIDS promises made by world leaders.
This year, a major worldwide initiative being taken to unite people in leadership against HIV and AIDS is the Stop AIDS Leadership Pledge. Launched in 2007, the pledge works with partners on the national, regional and global levels to collect signatures of people willing to devote their leadership to stopping AIDS. With the goal of attaining 100,000 signatures, pledges collected online, by mail and at events will be used to create banners and exhibitions that will be displayed at events in 2008 and 2009 to raise awareness.
One of the many 2008 World AIDS Day events that will commemorate the lives lost to the disease worldwide, the Riverside Church, where Martin is on the Global HIV and AIDS Ministry board, will host a Keeping the Promise event on Nov. 30. Though it is a sign of progress, Martin says, “The fight is far from over.”
View the Stop AIDS Leadership Pledges at https://pledges.worldaidscampaign.info.