Thousands of carnations to mark World AIDS Day

If you saw the news last weekend, read a paper, or logged on to the Web, you'll have struggled to miss the coverage of the 20th World AIDS Day, which took place on Saturday 1 December.

Campaigners around the world put on events to mark the day. Even Google had the red ribbon - the global symbol for solidarity with HIV-positive people and those living with AIDS - on their homepage.

World AIDS Day is about raising awareness of AIDS, both nationally and globally. Approximately 8000 people die each day from AIDS-related illnesses. Or, to put it another way, it's like loosing the population of Birmingham every six months to this killer disease.

Oxfam is committed to fighting the spread of HIV not just because it's a worthy cause, but because HIV/AIDS is one of the biggest obstacles preventing people from overcoming poverty. Those who are infected are often too ill to go to work or are refused the chance to earn a living, and children caring for sick parents cannot go to school.

In the run up to World AIDS Day, Oxfam supporters joined the Stop AIDS rally in London's Parliament Square. A giant red ribbon, made of thousands of carnations representing the number of lives lost every day, acted as a reminder of why the AIDS crisis must be tackled.

Two-thirds of all people living with HIV are in Sub-Saharan Africa.

World leaders, including the UK Government, promised to help achieve universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support by 2010. Although gains have been made, this target is badly behind schedule.

World AIDS Day might be over for this year, but thousands of people still die every day from AIDS related illnesses, almost entirely in developing countries. Take our online action telling the UK Government to keep their promises to fight AIDS.