World AIDS day marked across globe
- 12 years ago
Hundreds take to the streets of Dhaka, Bangladesh, to mark World AIDS day.
At the rally, organised by the Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation, men, women and children came out to raise awareness of the dangerous pandemic.
The march was just one of numerous events taking place across the globe.
In South Africa, which has more people living with HIV than any other country, the number of new infections are dropping.
Still, one of the greatest issues is mother to child transmission - 40,000 children are infected in the country each year.
This centre cares for children who have been infected from birth.
The centre's director says mother to child infection is still high largely because of refusal to get tested.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) NKOSI'S HAVEN DIRECTOR, GAIL JOHNSON:
"I think it has declined a bit, but there is still a huge amount of denial. And that's, I think, part of the problem why we are still seeing the deaths, because people are not going forward to be tested, they are keeping it hidden."
The issue of child infections was a major theme in Sydney as Australia also marked World AIDS day.
The Governor-General of the country said the Millennium Development Goal of reducing mother to child transmissions to zero in the coming year should be pursued.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA, QUENTIN BRYCE:
"We have to hand the treatments, the knowledge and the skills necessary to reduce this figure from 390,000 to zero by 2015."
World AIDS Day has been commemorated around the world since 1988.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.
At the rally, organised by the Bangladesh Labour Welfare Foundation, men, women and children came out to raise awareness of the dangerous pandemic.
The march was just one of numerous events taking place across the globe.
In South Africa, which has more people living with HIV than any other country, the number of new infections are dropping.
Still, one of the greatest issues is mother to child transmission - 40,000 children are infected in the country each year.
This centre cares for children who have been infected from birth.
The centre's director says mother to child infection is still high largely because of refusal to get tested.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) NKOSI'S HAVEN DIRECTOR, GAIL JOHNSON:
"I think it has declined a bit, but there is still a huge amount of denial. And that's, I think, part of the problem why we are still seeing the deaths, because people are not going forward to be tested, they are keeping it hidden."
The issue of child infections was a major theme in Sydney as Australia also marked World AIDS day.
The Governor-General of the country said the Millennium Development Goal of reducing mother to child transmissions to zero in the coming year should be pursued.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF AUSTRALIA, QUENTIN BRYCE:
"We have to hand the treatments, the knowledge and the skills necessary to reduce this figure from 390,000 to zero by 2015."
World AIDS Day has been commemorated around the world since 1988.
Simon Hanna, Reuters.