November 25, 2008

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - The 20th anniversary of World AIDS Day will be celebrated Dec. 1 through remembrance and expert lectures by leading anti-AIDS researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). On Monday:

• 10 a.m.-2 p.m., AIDS quilt display: UAB will display three 12-foot-square "blocks" of The AIDS Memorial Quilt from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Blazer Hall Residence Life Center. Blocks usually comprise eight smaller panels remembering the lives of eight individuals lost to AIDS. The UAB display will include panels created by Alabama quilters with ties to Birmingham, Orville, Opelika, Selma and other places. The display is part of a national effort to have every section of the quilt on display to raise awareness of AIDS deaths and the epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. As of November, The AIDS Memorial Quilt comprised 5,789 blocks, and new panels arrive every week at a foundation office in Atlanta, organizers said.

• Noon-2 p.m. AIDS seminar: Two world leaders in the area of HIV monitoring, prevention and treatment will give free talks at the UAB Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium. Ronald Gray, M.D., is a professor of reproductive epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University; Michael Saag, M.D., is the director of UAB's Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Gray [noon-1 p.m.] will talk about the use of male circumcision for HIV prevention in Africa, and monitoring mother-to-child HIV transmission rates. Saag [1-2 p.m.] will deliver his annual "state of the CFAR" lecture focusing on new research initiatives and additions to the center's leadership committees. He also will talk about the current government funding landscape in relation to anti-AIDS research and treatment.

The seminar is hosted by UAB's School of Public Health with funding by Pfizer Inc.

World AIDS Day, first recognized in 1988, addresses a pandemic that has led to more than 25 million deaths and an estimated 33 million HIV-positive people worldwide. The awareness event is led by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and has since become a highlight of the yearlong World AIDS Campaign.

*Address notes: Blazer Hall is between University Boulevard and 10th Ave. S., off 16th St. S., directly behind UAB's Recreation Center. The Margaret Cameron Spain Auditorium is at the corner of 7th Ave. and 19th Street South.