Today is World AIDS Day.

To mark the occasion, school children, community activists and Government ministers gathered on the steps of City Hall yesterday to promote awareness of the disease.

Meanwhile students from T.N. Tatem School handed out red ribbons and pins to highlight the cause, and choirs from Victor Scott Primary School and St. George's Prep performed.

"Be smart and get tested, " proclaimed Hamilton Town Crier, Ed Christopher, at the opening of the event.

Two million people worldwide died from HIV or AIDS in 2008.

There are 33.4 million people around the world living with HIV, and more than 250 cases in Bermuda.

HIV and AIDS weaken or destroy a person's immune system the body's defense against infection and disease. Infection is spread through unprotected sex, semen, blood, vaginal fluid and breast milk. While there is no cure, there are medications that will allow patients to live normal lives.

As such, the Island is working to "promote better understanding and increase access to treatment", said Health Minister Walter Roban. According to worldaidsday.org, up to a quarter of people living with the disease don't know they have it.