Photo Gallery Marking World Aids Day
People around the world have held events and demonstrations to mark World AIDS Day on Dec. 1. Here, students form the AIDS symbol at an event in the northern Indian city of Shimla.
Mascots in the shape of a heart and a condom are seen at a demonstration in Bangkok, Thailand.
Pakistani eunuchs hold banners to mark Worlds AIDS Day during a protest in Karachi on Dec. 1, 2009. Karachi has up to 100,000 female sex workers, according to data gathered by Pakistan Society, a local welfare organisation.
Traditional Bihu dancers participate in an event to mark World AIDS Day in Gauhati, India. Nearly 2.5 million people in India are infected with HIV, but the disease and sexual health issues in general are still very much taboo subjects.
Giant red ribbons are displayed on the exterior of Marseille's city hall in France. Almost 60 million people have been infected by the HIV virus since it was first recorded, according to the latest report by the United Nations agency UNAIDS.
Activists place white crosses with red ribbons at the Museumplein square in Amsterdam on Dec. 1, 2009. The crosses are part of the "Stop Aids Now" campaign.
Train station officers bearing AIDS awareness symbols stand in lines during an event at Beijing's south railway station.
A terminally ill Thai man rests at a hospice for those dying of AIDS, at Wat Prabat Nampu Buddhist temple in Lopburi. Thailand has been widely praised for its work in containing the virus. According to UNAIDS, the number of new infections fell from a peak of around 140,000 a year in 1991, to 18,000 in 2005.
