Multiple University of Wisconsin student organizations are promoting HIV and AIDS awareness today through a series of events commemorating the 23rd annual World Aids Day.

According to the day’s website, World Aids Day is the first global health day and started in 1988 as a way for people around the globe to show support for those living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus and commemorate those who have died from it.

HIV is passed through the exchange of bodily fluids and attacks the body’s immune system, impairing its ability to fight disease, according to the World Aids Day website.

It is commonly spread through unprotected sexual intercourse and shared needles, the website said.

Ryan Westergaard, a UW assistant professor and public health researcher specializing in HIV, said HIV affects approximately 1.2 million people in the U.S. with 50,000 to 60,000 new cases arising each year.

Globally, Westergaard said, about 34 million people live with the disease.

“HIV/AIDS are some of the fastest growing illnesses that threaten our society,” said Ashley Walton-Stamps, Campus Women’s Center finance coordinator.

This is what prompted the CWC to host some of its largest events of the year in support of World Aids Day, according to Walton-Stamps.

Walton-Stamps said these events include CWC and University Health Services’ collaboration providing free walk-in HIV testing from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m. on the sixth floor of East Campus Mall today.

“The only way to mitigate the spread is to have people be aware of their status,” Walton-Stamps said. “We are fully committed to offering testing to those who cannot afford it in an event to curb its spread.”

The CWC is also working with the Wisconsin Union Directorate to show “The Other City,” Walton-Stamps said.

The film will follow individuals affected by HIV and AIDS in Washington, D.C., she said, and is set to begin at 7 p.m. in the Marquee at Union South.

The Student Global AIDS Campaign, another student organization on campus, will set up a display Thursday morning on Bascom Hill to show support for the day and any students affected by HIV, SGAC President Brianna Vonnahme said.

The red ribbons in the display acted as a visual representation of how many people are infected with the disease worldwide, according to Vonnahme.

One of the main goals of SGAC is to educate students who are both HIV positive and negative, Vonnahme said, and to let students know that is okay to be positive while providing support.

“We provide a deeper understanding of what it is to be HIV positive,” she said.

Another student organization, Sex Out Loud, will facilitate a workshop Thursday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. in Room 3161 of the Student Activity Center in commemoration of the date.

The workshop will be run by Sex Out Loud facilitator DeMarco Bowen, who will contextualize HIV and AIDS in a global framework, according to the Sex Out Loud website.

The workshop will also stress the importance of getting tested, the website said.