Killing in our world, either in the past or even at present, have taken many toll roads. Wars killed so many. Disasters took so much lives. Epidemics afflicted people worldwide. AIDS is still at the top chart of one of the deadliest.

UNAIDS estimate for this year is 33 million people are infected with HIV. The number of AIDS death was 2.1 million in 2006. This year, UNAIDS estimated about 2.5 million people will be infected by the virus at the global scale. The strive to overcome this serious problem seems pacing a long and winding road.

There is no cure—that is the painful fact. Treatment, which is still expensive, may not readily available to those who need it. Look at Africa. Two third of about 40 million AIDS infected are there. Being poor for most of them makes it hard to reach health access.

Worse as it now, AIDS infected individuals are also increasing in many other parts of the world. India is now a focus of the eyes. Along the way, there is also Indonesia which is taking the front seat as the most serious case in Southeast Asia.The statistic says that Indonesia has almost 10 thousands AIDS infected by September 2007. All provinces have cases, while Jakarta, West Java and Papua as the three at the top. Check the provincial data here.

I really applaud the work of the National AIDS Commission (NAC) or Komisi Penanggulangan AIDS (KPA) in leading Indonesia’s effort to deal with this epidemic. So much to be done and it is making headway. The National Startegy and Action Plan 2007-2010 are guides for the nation to address this.

Yes, there is no cure, yet. But prevention is equally important in order not to worsen matters. That is what we need to join hand to promote AIDS awareness at all level. December 1 is the World AIDS Day which is observed globally. We are too.

I urge you to give some minutes browsing the KPA website, read and read. Facts and news are there. Follow the links—to many worldwide sources. There, you will find also UNAIDS and so on.LA/29/11/07