For actor Preity Zinta, World Aids Day means much more than sporting a red ribbon or lighting up heritage sites. For her, it's a chance to tell people that a friend with HIV is still a friend. This UNAIDS ambassador opens up to CS:

Being positive
Many people don't understand the ways HIV is transmitted, how it can be prevented, how it is treated and what it means to be a person living with HIV today. Many people therefore make wrong judgements about people living with HIV and associate it with a certain behaviour.

Therefore, the best way to battle stigma associated with HIV is educating our communities, talk openly about the epidemic and encourage people living with HIV in their communities to talk about what their struggles.

When you see and feel that a person living with HIV is like any other person in the community, you will understand that the negative views associated with the virus are unjust.