NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL COUNCIL::..

World AIDS Day was first conceived in 1987 by James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Bunn and Netter took their idea to Dr. Jonathan Mann, Director of the Global Programme on AIDS (now known as UNAIDS). Dr. Mann liked the concept and agreed that the first observance of World AIDS Day should be December 1, 1988.

Bunn suggested the date of December 1st to ensure coverage by western news media, something he believed was vital to the success of World AIDS Day. He felt that because 1988 was an election year in the U.S. media outlets would be weary of their post-election coverage and eager to find a fresh story to cover. Bunn and Netter felt that December 1st was long enough after the election and soon enough before the Christmas holidays that it was, in effect, a dead spot in the news calendar and thus perfect timing for World AIDS Day.

Bunn, originally a reporter covering the epidemic for KPIX-TV in San Francisco, along with producer Nancy Saslow, also conceived and initiated “AIDS Lifeline” - a public awareness and health education campaign that was syndicated to television stations in the U.S. "AIDS Lifeline" was honored with a Peabody Award, a local Emmy, and the first National Emmy ever awarded to a local station.

On June 18, 1986 the “AIDS Lifeline” project was honored with a Presidential Citation for Private Sector Initiatives, presented by President Ronald Reagan. Bunn was then asked by Dr. Mann, on behalf of the U.S. government, to take a two-year leave-of-absence from his reporting duties to join Dr. Mann (an epidemiologist for the Centers for Disease Control) in the creation of the Global Programme on AIDS. Mr. Bunn accepted and was named the first Public Information Officer for the Global Programme on AIDS. Along with Mr. Netter he created, designed, and implemented the inaugural World AIDS Day observance – now the longest-running disease awareness and prevention initiative of its kind in the history of public health.

The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) became operational in 1996, and it took over the planning and promotion of World AIDS Day. Rather than focus on a single day, UNAIDS created the World AIDS Campaign in 1997 to focus on year-round communications, prevention and education.

In its first two years, the theme of World AIDS Day focused on children and young people. These themes were strongly criticized at the time for ignoring the fact that people of all ages may become infected with HIV and suffer from AIDS. But the themes drew attention to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, helped alleviate some of the stigma surrounding the disease, and helped boost recognition of the problem as a family disease.

From its inception until 2004, UNAIDS spearheaded the World AIDS Day campaign, choosing annual themes in consultation with other global health organizations.

As of 2008, each year's World AIDS Day theme is chosen by the World AIDS Campaign's Global Steering Committee after extensive consultation with people, organizations and government agencies involved in the prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. For each World AIDS Day from 2005 through 2010, the theme will be "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.", with a yearly sub-theme. This overarching theme is designed to encourage political leaders to keep their commitment to achieve universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, care, and support by the year 2010.