More than 850 people participated in World AIDS Day candlelight vigil on Wilton Drive last
December 1.
Campaign brings recognition to those affected by HIV/AIDS
By DMITRY RASHNITSOV
Since its recognition as an official disease in 1981, AIDS has killed more than 25million people all over the world. As of2009, as many as 33.3 million people glob-ally were living with HIV/AIDS, according to UN AIDS, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS. The entire world will gather together on Dec. 1 to recognize World AIDS Day and remember those who have lost the fight with one of the deadliest pandemics in recorded history.
World AIDS Day is celebrated on Dec. 1every year and originally started in 1988.It was the brainchild of James W. Bunn and Thomas Netter, two public information officers for the Global Program on AIDS at the World Health Organization in Switzerland.
Communities from all over the world will gather together to hold events. Many of the affairs include candlelight vigils,AIDS Quilt displays, speeches by activists and calls to action for local, state and federal governments to continue to help those who are infected and affected by the disease.
In Florida alone, hundreds of events are scheduled all over including church-es, community organizations, AIDS clinics and colleges. Here is a highlight of some events happening in the Sunshine State:
In Broward County, residents will have the opportunity to pay tribute to family, loved ones and friends who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS by signing a special Broward County Quilt Panel which will be installed as part of the6,000 Panel
Quilt Collection. “The NAMES Project/AIDS Memorial Quilt represents 25 years in our struggle to remember those lost to the epidemic and its impact on communities, without boundaries separated by race, gender or age,” said William Green, Broward County Health Care Services Administrator.
In Miami-Dade County, Florida International University’s school of Journalism and Mass Communication will present a 15-minute student produced video titled “The Stigma Stops with Me,” followed by a panel discussion.Panelists include: Miami-Dade Public Health officials, FIU health communicators and 38-year old HIV positive Latina Damaris “Dee” Cruz, who is featured in the documentary.
In Orlando, the Center Orlando will also display five panels of the AIDS Quilt.
Some of the larger events happening all over the world include Sir Elton John serving as guest editor of the United Kingdom Newspaper The Independent;Liza Minnelli and Stockard Channing will host a Light for Rights campaign in New York City; In Washington D.C.,Persistent Voices will showcase poetry by writers who have passed away from AIDS; and in Capetown, South Africa, the Art scape Opera house will give a benefit concert with all proceeds going to help fight the disease in Africa, the continent that is currently affected the most.
The biggest reason for World AIDS Dayis to remind governments and individuals around the globe that AIDS is not going away anytime soon.
“Simply put, HIV is no longer on the public’s radar screen, and the result is deadly serious,” said C. Everett Koop,who was surgeon general in 1981 when AIDS became officially recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Although ignorance about AIDS remains widespread, the irrational fear that accompanied its emergence in the early 1980s has now been replaced bya growing sense of complacency that is as dangerous.”
Approximately 56,000 Americans con-tract the HIV-virus every year. In July2010, President Barack Obama launched a new campaign that included reducing new HIV infections, increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV, and reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities.
Visit www.worldaidscampaign.org.
