Many of you may not know that today is World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day aims to provide awareness, promote the fight against HIV, support those living with HIV/AIDS, and to commemorate those who have died from the disease. This disease is a worldwide killer but with proper education and precautions can be avoided, and possibly eradicated.

With the evolution of the internet not only can we increase awareness but access to information has become much more readily available. From the Planned Parenthood website (PlannedParenthood.org) you can live chat a representative from the organization with your questions or concerns, find a clinic near you, get information regarding protection and contraception, as well as facts about abortion and disease.

So what can you do?

Protect yourself: Use protection. There are a myriad of excuses not to but are any of them worth your health? Condoms are the only effective way to protect against STDs/HIV/AIDS and since 90% of these infections are spread through sexual contact you'd be crazy not to use one. You can get free condoms at Planned Parenthood as well as college and university clinics. So go crazy (with the condoms).

Get tested: Ideally you should get tested yearly and before entering a new sexual relationship. HIV testing is often painless and free and the results can be available in as little as 20 minutes. Testing for other diseases can be more invasive but I find that a few minutes of discomfort is worth the peace of mind. 

Help a lady out: If you have to be the one to hand out condoms, do it. I used to always take a few from my college health center to keep on hand just in case. Just make sure to regularly restock your stash; condoms have an expiration date.

Wear red: The red ribbon is the official symbol for the cause but you can also participate by wearing red and letting others know why you're wearing it. I'll be sporting a red lip today and talking up the issue with my coworkers.

Spread the word: Share this post or some of the links below on your social media accounts. Add the hashtag #WorldAIDSDay to your tweets, share a link on Facebook, whatever it takes to get the message across. It's going to take a lot of effort to garner results so continuing the conversation long after December 1st is essential.

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