"AIDS and the Family" is the theme selected by the World
Health
Organization Global Program on AIDS (WHO/GPA) for the seventh
annual World
AIDS Day, December 1, 1994. This theme focuses on the crucial role
of
families in responding to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)
and
acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic. Families
(defined by
WHO/GPA as a group of persons linked by feelings of trust, mutual
support,
and a common destiny) can help reduce the risk for HIV infection
among
members and provide care for members who develop HIV infection or
AIDS
(1). An estimated 17 million persons worldwide have been infected
with HIV
since onset of the pandemic, and each day 6000 additional persons
become
infected (2). WHO/GPA estimates that by the year 2000,
approximately 10
million children will have been orphaned because their parents died
as the
result of HIV infection (2).
Additional information about HIV infection, AIDS, and World
AIDS Day
is available from the CDC National AIDS Hotline (NAH) and the CDC
National
AIDS Clearinghouse (NAC). NAH provides information about HIV/AIDS,
refers
callers to services in their community, and places orders for
HIV/AIDS
publications; NAC provides educational materials and information on
AIDS
service organizations, funding sources, and drug trials. The
telephone
numbers for NAH are (800) 342-2437; Spanish, (800) 344-7432; or
TTY/TDD,
(800) 243-7889. The telephone number for NAC is (800) 458-5231 or
(301)
217-0023.
Reported by: Global Program on AIDS, World Health Organization,
Geneva.
Office of the Associate Director (HIV/AIDS), Office of the
Director, CDC.
References
Global Program on AIDS, World Health Organization. World AIDS
Day
Newsletter. Geneva: World Health Organization, Global Program on
AIDS,
1994;(2):1.
Merson M. Global status of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the
response
{Lecture}. Yokohama, Japan: Tenth Annual Conference on AIDS, August
8,
1994.
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