Today is World AIDS Day. It marks an internationally recognised event aimed at raising awareness about HIV and AIDS around the world. Across the globe, the event is commemorated in a multitude of ways, collectively symbolised by the wearing of red ribbons, a sign of support for those living with HIV.

The red ribbon, one of the most iconic images in use today, has been an international symbol of AIDS awareness since 1991 after the Red Ribbon Project was created by New York-based organisation Visual AIDS.

According to the World AIDS Day website, wearing a red ribbon for World AIDS Day is a "simple and powerful way" to show support and challenge the stigma and prejudice surrounding HIV and AIDS that often prevents us from tackling HIV in the UK and internationally.

Facing the reality

This year, in the UK, the theme for World AIDS Day focuses on the reality of living with HIV today. The UK campaign uses real people and real situations to present true accounts of how HIV affects people in modern day Britain. It is designed to dispel some of the myths, misinformation, confusion and unwarranted sigma that surrounds HIV.

Outside of the UK, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, the French first lady, has spoken out today about her work as an AIDS ambassador for The Global Fund. In an interview with BBC television, she explains how it is "unfair" that women and children in the developing world often miss out on treatment for HIV, stressing that much work is needed to help those children who are HIV positive because the virus has been passed on from their mother. Bruni-Sarkozy also cited the British Prime Minster's wife, Sarah Brown, as an inspiration for her work on tackling AIDS awareness in the UK.

In New York, award-winning musician Alicia Keys is scheduled to perform a free concert for World AIDS Day tonight. The concert will be broadcast live on the artist's official YouTube channel and all proceeds from the concert will go to Keys' charity Keep A Child Alive.

Meanwhile, in Detroit, World AIDS Day will be recognised in a special music program aimed at encouraging Detroit youth to make correct choices when it comes to health and sex. The Hip-Hop and R&B project, Lifestoryz State of Emergency, is sponsored by the city's health department, Michigan Department of Community Health, and Wayne County Health Department.

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