This year an estimated 2.5 million people globally were newly infected with HIV, the virus that attacks the immune system and causes AIDS. While this is number is down significantly from about 5 million new infections just a few years ago, individuals' efforts to increase HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention remain critical to ending this international pandemic.

What is World AIDS Day?
Organized by the World AIDS Campaign, World AIDS Day (WAD) will be observed internationally on December 1st. Governments, organizations and individuals will all make their promises to end HIV/AIDS heard in a variety of ways Events are being held around the world in celebration of the global fight to end HIV/AIDS.

What are governments promising toward the reduction of HIV/AIDS?
The United States government, together with the governments of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, and The United Kingdom, have promised to achieve access for all the world's people to AIDS treatment, care, support and prevention services by 2010.

What has MTV done to commit to the cause?
MTV viewers have never known a world without AIDS. The year MTV began in 1981 was also the year the first AIDS case was documented. MTV has done its part to help lead young people in the charge against HIV/AIDS in a variety of ways from running the first Safe Sex Public Service Announcements on TV in 1985 to having the first openly HIV positive character on television with Pedro Zamora in Real World: San Francisco in 1994.

MTV continues on this path through its partnership with the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which began in 1997, to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic through education and prevention strategies. KFF and MTV's "It's Your (Sex) Life" (IYSL) campaign raises young people's awareness of the personal risks associated with unprotected sex, encourages young people to discuss safer-sex issues, and links young people to testing centers for HIV and other STDs. For more info on sexual health issues check out the IYSL campaign. on Think.

MTV International's Staying Alive Foundation is another organization which connects MTV viewers with information, resources and ways to take action on HIV/AIDS. Staying Alive also gives monetary awards to young people establishing grass roots initiatives in HIV awareness and prevention.

How can I get involved in the global fight against HIV/AIDS?
Solving a problem as widespread as the global HIV/AIDS pandemic begins with individuals that become leaders within their communities. There are a number of ways that you can commit to the cause this World AIDS Day 2007.

The following links provide you with the resources to get started.

1. Take the Test
Enter your zip code into the testing center locator to find out where you can get tested for HIV and other STDs.

2. Support YouthAIDS' Kick Me! Campaign
YouthAIDS and their celebrity ambassadors are calling on you to raise awareness and funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS.

3. Organize a World AIDS Day Event
Free downloadable posters, flyers and planning guides brought to by the World AIDS Campaign to make organizing your own event easy.

4. Find an already scheduled World AIDS Day Event near YOU
Search the calendar for WAD happenings in your area.

5. Join Nelson Mandela's 46664
Learn more about 46664, a South African- based organization dedicated to making HIV AIDS history.

Where can I learn more about HIV/AIDS?

1. Visit the It's Your (Sex) Life Campaign
Use this site to get more information about sexual health and find out where to get tested for HIV and other STDs. Here you can also meet others who are thinking about how to protect themselves, their partners, their communities, and how to fight HIV/AIDS on a global scale.

2. Get the facts on the impact of HIV/AIDS on communities in the US
Current fact sheets on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the US.

3. The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)
Regardless of what you may think of the US Government on other issues, the US is the leading contributor to the fight against AIDS. Learn more about President Bush's $15 billion pledge to the global fight against HIV/AIDS.