by Lito Dar

Baguio City (28 November) -- Every December 1 of each year is being commemorated as Worlds AIDS Day worldwide, it is an international day to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS all over the world.

The Baguio AIDS Watch Council Inc (AWAC), an institutionalized agency of the Baguio City Council will again be spearheading this year's World AIDS Day Celebration in the city.

In this year's celebration, AWAC adopts the theme, "Stop AIDS, Keep the Promise – Leadership." The program of activities is set on Tuesday morning at the Baguio Convention Center, and will start with a parade at 8:00am from Banco de Oro – top of Session road, going down to Harrison road and to the Baguio Convention Center.

After the parade is a short program at the Baguio Convention Center, to be followed by a press conference. The Reproductive Health and Wellness Center (RHWC) of the City Health Services Office (HSO) Annual HIV/AIDS Conference of workers in night establishments will also be done, simultaneously with the presscon.

AWAC has also launched the commemoration of World AIDS Day during the flag ceremony at the City Hall grounds, Monday morning. In his speech, AWAC president Dr Charles Cheng reminded the public to be wary of emerging or re-emerging diseases, such as dengue, malaria, A H1N1 and human immunodeficiency virus.

According to Dr. Cheng, more and more people are becoming susceptible to such diseases, as shown by the increasing number of HIV/AIDS cases. He also reiterated that people should not only be wary of the health risk posed by HIV/AIDS but also on its social cost.

Based on the UNAIDS 2007 data, 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV. Of this number, 30.8 million are adults, 15.5 million are women and two million are children under 15 years old. The same data shows that as of 2007, there are already two million deaths due to HIV/AIDS.