Within 5 minutes, about the time it takes to read a newspaper story, 27 people worldwide will have died from AIDS.
In an hour, about the time it takes to attend one college class, the number will be hundreds higher.
And by this time on Tuesday, 8,000 people will have died from the disease.
Today is World AIDS Day, an annual event to raise HIV and AIDS awareness, spread education and fight stigmas. The theme of this year's World's AIDS Day is "Live and Let Live" and focuses on the battle against stereotypes and discrimination, featuring guest speakers and a memorial quilt.
On Sunday, dozens of volunteers tied red ribbons with the names of people who have died from AIDS around trees on campus. Five hundred ribbons were hung, each one representing 1,000 AIDS deaths in the United States.
"There are more people today that are aware of the disease, but the stigmas are as bad as ever," said Patrick Lombardi, the director of volunteer services at the Lansing Area AIDS Network, or LAAN. "It's unfortunate that people are so judgmental that they can't see the truth."
More than 25 million people have died in the AIDS epidemic worldwide. Africa has been hit the hardest with 18 million AIDS-related deaths.
LAAN, a group that provides services and programs to those in the community living with HIV or AIDS, are spearheading many of the events planned in conjunction with World AIDS Day.
In a December 2003 World Health Organization AIDS report, 40 million people worldwide were reported to be living with HIV or AIDS.
In Michigan alone, an estimated 13,500 residents were living with HIV or AIDS in 2001, according to the Michigan AIDS Fund.
Lombardi said people with AIDS are still being blamed for their disease and are scared of how others will react to their condition, two issues he said he hopes World AIDS Day will help.
"There is a lot of ideas out there that this is God's retribution - his retribution against evil people," Lombardi said.
The first World AIDS Day was held in 1988, just months after 140 countries that met at the World Summit of Ministers of Health on AIDS unanimously adopted the day. Since the first event, the day has grown to include millions of participants.
Interdisciplinary studies in social science senior and Olin health advocate Amy Lange was one of the coordinators of the event.
"We want to raise awareness so that people are more educated about this and so that people will want to get tested," said Lange, who previously counseled people receiving anonymous HIV testing at Olin Health Center.
College-age people are at high risk for the disease, Lange said, adding that one in 500 college students has HIV or AIDS.
According to the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, about 20,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the United States among those under 25.
Lange said that, while working as an AIDS counselor last semester, she usually saw about one student an hour for testing. Most of them were concerned after engaging in unsafe sex, she said, but some were being tested for other reasons.
"Some people were just curious and got tested so that they could tell their future partners," she said. "A lot of people think it can't happen to them, but it could affect them or someone they know."
Dennis Martell, a health educator at Olin, said that because of recent AIDS drugs and the apparently healthy lives of some famous people living with HIV, many don't grasp the reality of the disease.
"There is a whole segment of the population that did not experience the '90s when HIV was very prevalent in the news and people were dying every day," said Martell, who will help coordinate some of today's events. "AIDS is still out there; it's very secure, and people are still at risk for it."
