From New Delhi to New York, the planet has marked World AIDS day.
New York marked the occasion by lighting up the Empire State Building in red, thousands gathered in New Delhi for a candlelight memorial, while hundreds of school children gathered around a huge red ribbon made from scarves in Dexing City in China’s Jiangxi province.
2015 is the 27th time World AIDS day has been marked and the theme for this year is ‘Getting to Zero’
The first World AIDS Day was held on 1 December 1988, conceived by the Global Programme on AIDS initiative to highlight the disease and its effects on the world.
It was also held to remove the stigma from the disease and halt false rumours about how AIDS was contracted. The day is also used to call for more action from governments, the medical science community, and the private sector to develop and distribute affordable treatments.
According to estimates by WHO and UNAIDS, 36.9 million people were living with HIV globally at the end of 2014, with an estimated 2900 people living with HIV in New Zealand.
