Story Highlights
- historical event: It is estimated that AIDS virus killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007, and continues to kill more than two million each year, out of which approximately 76% in sub-Saharan Africa.
World AIDS Day is commemorated on this day, because the existence of the virus that causes the disease was officially acknowledged for the first time on 1 December 1981.
It is assumed that the AIDS virus originated back in the late 19th or early 20th century in Africa, but it assumed an epidemic form only in the mid to late 1970s. It is estimated that this virus killed more than 25 million people between 1981 and 2007, and continues to kill more than two million each year, out of which approximately 76% in sub-Saharan Africa.
The total number of infected people in 2009 was estimated at 33.4 million. Particularly tragic is the fact that up to 330,000 children die from AIDS dies every year. A red ribbon symbolizes solidarity with those suffering from AIDS.
