In two days, December 1st, the media all over the world will be filled again with those pretty red ribbons, at the edge of a newspaper, on the corner of the TV screen, beside the logo of major websites. It is that special day of every year that many people see it, but don’t realize exactly what it means. Young children may even think that this means Christmas is near!

Unfortunately, it is not so. I mean, yes, the Christmas is near, but not for the whole world. The “Red Ribbon” campaign was inspired some years ago as a motto for global awareness against HIV, a very special and very resilient virus that is haunting the medical community since the early ’80s. Although the first incident of death from AIDS was recorded as the “the Congolese man” in 1959, the AIDS epidemic officially begun on the 5th of June 1981.

For a quick view of the epidemic's history, alleged origins and current status, as well as things you can do to help, take a look at the full article at the ReliefWeb blog and get involved in the red ribbon campaign.