On December 1st, World AIDS Day, at 11:00 A.M., Nassau County Executive Thomas R. Suozzi will be joined by the Nassau County Department of Health, the Nassau County HIV Commission, and Nassau University Medical Center to break ground for an AIDS Memorial Garden, located at the Carmen Avenue main entrance to the hospital. The garden is "a living tribute to those in Nassau County whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS." World AIDS Day serves to strengthen global efforts to address the challenges of the AIDS epidemic, an epidemic which continues in Nassau County as well as every region of the world.

Some facts to remember:

• There is still no cure for AIDS. Although people are living longer with better medications, many of these medications have serious side effects, are expensive, and must be taken on a strict schedule.
• Long Island ranks among the highest in number of cumulative AIDS cases in suburban areas in the country. In 2002, Nassau County had 205 new cases. The county has a cumulative total of 3,651 AIDS cases since 1985 (through December, 2002.)
• The CDC has estimated that up to 1/3 of those individuals infected with HIV do not know their status, which prevents them from getting early care and treatment.
• HIV has increasingly become a woman's disease. Heterosexual contact is the greatest risk for women, followed by injection drug use.
• In Nassau County, communities of color have been disproportionately affected by HIV infection.

Some additional facts:

• New Cases of HIV in 2002: 103
• 56% men
• 26% are between age of 13 and 29
• 47% are African American
• 11% are Hispanic
• 33% report men having sex with men as their risk factor
• 13% report injection drug users as their risk factor
• 21% report heterosexual sex as risk factor

To learn more about free, confidential HIV/AIDS counseling with the new 20-minute HIV test available at the Nassau County Department of Health, call the HIV Bureau weekdays between 9:00a.m. - 4:45 p.m. at (516) 571-2019.