World AIDS Day, December 1

The General Assembly in 1988 stated its deep concern about the pandemic proportions of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) . Noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) had declared December 1, 1988, World AIDS Day, the Assembly stressed the importance of the appropriate observance of that occasion (resolution 43/15). A total of 18 million adults and 1.5 million children have been diagnosed since the disease was identified, according to WHO estimates. On his message for World AIDS Day 1995, the Secretary-General reviewed UN-AIDS, the new program which has brought together the skills and expertise of the World Bank, UNDP, UNESCO, the United Nations Children's Fund *UNICEF), the United Nations Population Fund (UNDF) , and the WHO. "UN-AIDS," he said, "will strengthen and expand national capacities to respond to the pandemic.... Non-governmental organizations, media research faculties and programs, educational institutions and the media, and thinking men and women everywhere will be needed in this universal human effort."

Source: United Nations Website: Observations