World Aids Day

It has claimed more than 30 million lives in 30 years.

This World AIDS Day, on Thursday December 1, Horsham-based charity AVERT is asking the community to help avoid further HIV diagnoses and AIDS related deaths around the world.

The charity provides education, treatment for the incurable virus and care to avert the epidemic.

Their website - www.avert.org - reaches over 2.5 million people worldwide with HIV, AIDS and sexual health information - making it the most popular website of its kind.

All of this work is done from Brighton Road.

AVERT plays a huge role in supporting community-led AIDS projects based in some of the worst affected areas of sub-Saharan Africa.

The current projects, which enable thousands of people to access better testing and treatment for HIV, are based in South Africa and Malawi.

Home-based care, testing, treatment and counselling, food and nutrition to children orphaned as a result of AIDS, school education programmes, are a number of benefits provided by the projects.

Natasha Vartoukian, of AVERT, said: “Thanks to the amazing advances of science, people now understand how to prevent and effectively treat the virus so that no person need ever die again from AIDS.

“World AIDS Day is an important reminder to the international community that despite these advances, more needs to be done in order to avoid further HIV infections and AIDS deaths around the world.

“Living with HIV is still a challenge, in a world of stigma, discrimination and limited access to life-saving drugs.

“AVERT is asking if residents of Horsham will help to take the AVERT AIDS challenge this World AIDS Day.

“Sign up to volunteer for AVERT on December 1 and help to hand out red ribbons and collect donations in the Carfax, and Horsham railway station.”

She added: “Just one hour of your time will make a huge difference.”

Be part of World AIDS Day by playing the online AVERT challenge - a unique game which incorporates quizzes and puzzles on HIV/AIDS - Avert