AIDS aware

While concern about HIV/AIDS isn't what it used to be when it emerged in the 1980s, the virus is still on the move and not going away anytime soon.

National statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention paint a dark picture: 56,300 Americans were newly infected with HIV in 2006 (latest data), 14,561 died from AIDS in 2007, a total 583,298 have died and 1.1 million live with HIV.

Across the globe, the World Health Organization estimates that 33 million are infected with HIV.

Today, millions will converge in communities -- including the Charleston area, where 2,600 live with HIV -- to raise awareness of the global AIDS epidemic and remember those who have died from it as part of the 22nd annual World AIDS Day.

Charleston's event, organized by Lowcountry AIDS Services, will include a health fair, featuring free HIV testing by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today in Marion Square. The event will conclude with a candlelight march from Marion Square to the College of Charleston's Rivers Green (behind Addlestone Library) starting at 5:30 p.m.

Virginia King, director of prevention services at Lowcountry AIDS, says the event is important because public concern about AIDS has waned a bit.

"There is some decline in the sense of urgency to come up with a cure because people are not dying as much anymore and because more people are living with HIV," says King, referring to those who adhere to medications and protocols. "You still have a lot of folks who don't know they are HIV positive until an opportunistic illness hits them."

King adds that's why it's important for people, particularly those who are high risk, to get tested and that a "rapid test" for HIV can determine results within 20 minutes. High-risk groups include those who don't use condoms and/or have multiple sex partners.

For this year's World AIDS Day, the theme is "Universal Access and Human Rights."

King says that "political" theme underscores that everyone has "the right to access to all HIV prevention, treatment, care and support."

"We have a promise to keep," says King. "The promise is not to forget that AIDS is still out there and that we will continue to fight it until AIDS is eradicated."

HIV/AIDS facts

--HIV stands for "human immunodeficiency virus," a "lentivirus" that primarily infects vital cells in the human immune system, such as "helper T" cells, macrophages and dendritic cells.

--AIDS stands for "acquired immune deficiency syndrome," a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus. People with AIDS also have an increased risk of developing various cancers such as Kaposi's sarcoma, cervical cancer and cancers of the immune system known as lymphomas.

--HIV is transmitted through direct contact of a mucous membrane or the bloodstream with a bodily fluid containing HIV, such as blood, semen, vaginal fluid, preseminal fluid and breast milk. Transmission can involve anal, vaginal or oral sex, blood transfusion, contaminated hypodermic needles, exchange between mother and baby during pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding.

--HIV/AIDS is a pandemic, and 33.2 million people live with the disease worldwide.

--In the United States, an estimated 1.1 million live with HIV and a total of 583,298 have died.

--In 2006 (the latest year for available data), 56,300 Americans were newly infected with HIV. Of those, 53 percent of new infections occurred in gay and bisexual men. The incidence rate in African-American men and women was seven times as high as the rate among whites.

--In the Charleston area, 2,600 people live with HIV.

If you go

Lowcountry AIDS Services will commemorate World AIDS Day with two events.

--From 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today in Marion Square, the World AIDS Day event will include a health fair, featuring free HIV tests administered by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. The event will be followed with a candlelight march from Marion Square to the College of Charleston's Rivers Green (behind Addlestone library), where a ceremony will be held.

--Shopping With Friends: From 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, a preshopping brunch at Charleston Place hotel will start the event, which features dozens of "Red Ribbon Retailers" giving 10 percent of every dollar spent by participants to Lowcountry AIDS Services. The night before the event, a cocktail party will be held 6-8 p.m. Friday at Saks Fifth Avenue. The cost for the latter is $15.

For more information, visit www.aids-services.com.

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