And a week-full of activities will be held leading up to that day.

The World AIDS Day Committee has organised a week of activities, beginning on Monday at the Masterworks Gallery where the AIDS Memorial Quilt will be unveiled.

The quilt will also be on display at the Bermuda College cafeteria on Wednesday and Thursday.

One of the Island's local AIDS support groups has invited the Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio to Bermuda as a guest speaker.

Dr. Victoria Cargill, who is also the founder of Stopping AIDS is my Mission (SAM), will speak at three forums for secondary school students on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at the Bermuda Industrial Union's Dr. E.F. Gordon Auditorium.

Dr. Cargill will also address local physicians and nurses at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

The Allen Vincent Smith Foundation, along with the Parents Resource Institute for Drug Education, will also host a special public forum on Thursday at the Cathedral Hall.

The topic for the forum, which will begin at 8 p.m., will be "AIDS in our Community''.

On Friday, the Foundation will distribute red ribbons throughout the city of Hamilton.

Premier David Saul will deliver the proclamation at City Hall at 12.30 p.m.

and a special ecumenical service and candle lighting ceremony will be held at the Anglican Cathedral, beginning at 7 p.m. The service will be in honour of those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.

Next Saturday, local producer and musician Mr. Michael Fox will host a concert featuring various local artists at St. Paul's Centennial Hall, beginning at 8 p.m. Admission is free. But donations will be accepted to assist the AIDS support group, STAR.

This year the World Health Organisation (WHO) has chosen the theme "Shared Rights, Shared Responsibilities'' to highlight the importance of equality and solidarity in the world response to the AIDS and AIDS virus pandemic.

Bermuda World AIDS Day Committee chairman Mrs. Joan Dillas Wright said: "We believe that everyone has the right to be able to avoid infection, the right to health care and if a person is HIV, the right to be treated with dignity and without discrimination.

"Individually, we have the responsibility to protect ourselves and our families, to care for those who are infected and to educate our loved ones about the disease.''