So, when I was approached to join a whole bunch of other personalities to support the #AIDSaware cause organised by RuumzCauses and PT Foundation, I agreed immediately. What the two organisations are trying to do basically is get 13,000 people to take pictures of themselves with HIV/AIDS related messages by World AIDS Day this year (Dec 1). These pictures will then be collected and made into a photo wall to be displayed somewhere in town.

RuumzCauses have created quite a few messages that you can choose from, print out and then take a picture with. I chose to write my own for the photoshoot.

This picture was taken by Warbaby for his Twitter. The actual shot which will be used as part of the campaign will only be revealed in December, together with shots from the others who took part in the campaign including Erra Fazira, Marina Mahathir, Hansen Lee, Elaine Daly, Joey G, Asha Gill, Jehan Miskin, Melissa Indot, Sarah Lian, Mizz Nina, Xandria Ooi, Sazzy Falak, Aishah Sinclair and much more. I think over 40 of us are participating. You can view the sneak peeks here (first, second, third and last).

CALL TO ACTION

Please take part in this campaign. It’s very simple and you can help spread the awareness to others about HIV/AIDS. All you need to do is take a picture of yourself holding up a sign with a HIV/AIDS related message.
Click here for more info.

Speaking of AIDS, there is another campaign going on – but this one on a global scale. I have Twittered previously about Nike’s collaboration with the (Red) campaign which I have always supported. I have Product (RED) shoes, baju, belt, laptop … and the shoelaces, the highlight of Nike (Red) campaign. Today, the two will launching another phase of the campaign in conjunction with the Ivory Coast vs Brazil game tonight featuring Didier Drogba, calling for people to rally against HIV/AIDS.

You can watch the teaser trailer here:

The highlight of this #endAIDS campaign is Drogba’s imagining of a world without AIDS. This of course coincides with Nike’s Write The Future campaign (I blogged about it before, and it revolved around the ethos that everything we do and every decision we make will Write The Future).

For me, these two campaigns are more than just marketing – but the potential impact it can have on the HIV/AIDS cause is good enough to support them. I hope you will too

12.04pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

HIV/AIDS has been a cause very close to my heart. My interest was first piqued when I attended the International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific back in 1999, when Kuala Lumpur played host. This year, I returned to the ICAAP for only the second time, this time held in Bali.

Over the years, as I talked to people about HIV/AIDS or got involved with volunteer work at the respective AIDS councils in Malaysia and Western Australia, I often find the need to “deflect” questions about my interest in the cause. One question I often get is, “Why do you even bother? You’re not living with AIDS.”

At times like this, I would spew out some statistics. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t shut them up.

Let me share some with you:

• UNAIDS estimates that at the end of 2008, there are 33.4 million people worldwide living with HIV
• Of that figure, 2.1 million are children.
• In 2008, 2 million people died of AIDS.
• 0.28 of them are children.
• In Malaysia, there has been more than 80,000 reported cases of HIV infection since 1986
  More stats here.

I don’t know about you, but these numbers pull at my heart strings. Of course, these days, testing positive for HIV is no longer a life sentence. While there is no cure, the treatment now available really extends the life of a person living with HIV, and allows them to lead healthy lives too.

I work with the Youth Section in The Star – R.AGE – so my attention is often on youths. It is a scary thought to know that by next year, anyone aged 24 and below would have never lived in a world without HIV/AIDS.

Yet, despite it no longer being a majorly taboo subject (it still is in many countries and communities – but much more talked about in urban areas, I suppose), many people are surprisingly ignorant about it.

It’s not that they don’t know what it is but many people often believe that they are not at risk. It really doesn’t matter – HIV/AIDS does not discriminate and anyone – especially those that engage in at-risk activities such as sex and injecting drugs, as examples – can get infected.

In tomorrow’s R.AGE (well, today), I write the cover story on HIV testing. I got three youths – who have never ever been tested before – to take their first ever test. In my column What The Tweet, I discuss some social media campaigns that are currently ongoing for World AIDS Day.

Very exciting, these stuff. One that really interests me is Nike’s (RED) laces campaign. I have always been a fan of Product (RED) – I own a (RED) Converse shoe, a (RED) Gap belt and a (RED) Dell laptop, among other smaller items. Now, I’m going to get my hands on the laces that are part of Nike’s Lace Up, Save Lives campaign where all profits from the RM15 laces go to the Global Fund and efforts to eradicate HIV in Africa.

Besides that, Twitter also got on the bandwagon. Together with Nike and (RED), they made every Tweet which has the hashtag #red or laceupsavelives to be red in colour (this only works if you’re using the Twitter web site to read your Tweet stream). But I noticed that any Tweets with the words HIV or AIDS also pop up in red.

Nifty, no?

Anyway, I spent the day wearing a red ribbon, as I do each year on World AIDS Day. I do this in memory of the many lives that are lost and in solidarity with those living with HIV/AIDS. I also hope people come up to me and ask me about it, so that I can talk to them more about the cause.

“Happy” World AIDS Day all. Let’s make everyday at World AIDS Day in our hearts, shall we?

1.31am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)