Red and Alive 2007

The Sexual Health department at St John's Hospital in Chelmsford all wore red for the week before World AIDS Day.

Sister, Lorena Allison, said "We wore red to raise awareness of HIV".

St John's was one of many clinics, GPs and health service sites marking World AIDS Day across the region.

Follow the link below to see a picture of the team!

DHIVERSE, the HIV and sexual health charity, is calling on everyone to be more aware of their sexual health this World AIDS Day. World AIDS Day falls on the 1st December and the charity has launched the biggest ever regional sexual health awareness campaign, RedandAlive.com.

The United Nations has sharply reduced its estimate of the size of the world's AIDS epidemic in a new report published Monday. The revised figures particularly reflect new numbers for the virus in India - but also indicate strides in fighting the epidemic worldwide. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more from Paris.

The new study by the United Nations organization UNAIDS cuts the number of infections to about 33 million - down from its estimated 39.5 million in 2006.

The new number largely reflects reestimates in India - which cut the numbers of HIV infections to 2.5 million people.

Volunteers from DHIVERSE and from Cambridge Student Rag took to the streets of Cambridge on Wednesday, raising more than £600 to support people with HIV in particular financial hardship through grants and loans from the positive support fund operated by DHIVERSE.

A special thank you to Cambridge RAG for their continued support of DHIVERSE.

Cambridge Building Society will be supporting the Red and Alive campaign this year by holding an online auction for their staff at their 23 branches. The items will be auctioned to raise funds to support the work of DHIVERSE will be donated from their Head Office and branches as well as local businesses.

The sixth form at St Ivo's School, in Huntingdonshire, will be holding a Wear Red to School day to mark World AIDS Day.

The event will be seeking to raise awareness of HIV and funds to support the work of DHIVERSE.

St Ivo School is one of the largest county comprehensive schools in Cambridgeshire with some 1,450 students in the 11 to 16 population and 350 students in the Sixth Form.

To organise a Wear Red day at your school or workplace follow the link to the right of the screen.

DHIVERSE, hosted a delegation from the Chinese Ministry of Health. The five person delegation included representatives from the Central Health Ministry and the Center of HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, representatives also attended from the Health Bureaux in the Jilin province.

The visit was part of The China AIDS Roadmap Tactical Support Project organised by the Department of International Development to develop China’s strategic capacity to deliver an effective coordinated response to HIV/AIDS.

A new BBC survey suggests high levels of ignorance and complacency about HIV among 16 to 24 year olds, and marks the start of a two-month BBC HIV awareness campaign.

* Eighty-nine per cent of 16 to 24 year olds rarely or never think about HIV when making decisions about their sex lives.

* Nearly half (41%) of 16 to 24 year olds consider themselves to be at "no risk" of catching HIV.

DHIVERSE has joined with other UK based NGOs to call on Gordon Brown to honour commitments to fund the fight against HIV, Malaria and TB on the eve of the Global Fund replenishment conference. This is key to achieving the promise of universal access to treatment, care and support by 2010.

At the G8 summit in June at which DHIVERSE campaigners joined thousands of others in lobbying for change - the world's leaders pledged to increase treble the size of the Global Fund to reach $8bn by 2010.