November 27, 2007

December 1st – World AIDS Day
Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise

The Nassau County Department of Health continues to offer free and confidential HIV counseling and testing for all residents. 

• In Nassau County, through December 31, 2005, there have been over 3,900 people reported with AIDS.

• In Nassau County, it is estimated that there are over 2,500 people living with HIV/AIDS.

• Once considered a disease of men, HIV/AIDS is a rapidly growing problem among women, particularly women of color. Heterosexual contact has steadily accounted for an increasing proportion of HIV infections among women.

• Of  Nassau County’s cumulative AIDS cases, 26 percent are women. As of December, 2005, 35% of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nassau County are female. This shows how the infection is increasingly occurring among women.

• HIV first became a reportable disease in New York State in June 2000.

December 1st was designated as World AIDS Day in 1988 in order to raise awareness of this global crisis.  Every year on December First, people from around the world join together to inspire more people to take action against AIDS stigma, misinformation, political and economic inequities and other barriers to the eradication of AIDS.