Today is World AIDS Day
Posted Dec 1, 2011 10:46:32 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Locally, there is going to be a Human HIV/AIDS Red Ribbon ceremony happening at Burt Matthews Hall Field at University of Waterloo at 10am. Officials are asking people to wear red and help kick off World AIDS Day. The AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo & Area (ACCKWA) is holding its annual candlelight vigil at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church on King Street in Kitchener starting at 8pm.
Colby Marcellus is the Executive Director of ACCKWA and tells 570 News as far as how many people have HIV in the Region, it’s really hard to quantify. Marcellus says there are a number of reasons: “For us, people can enter the Region from other places and they might have HIV; some people might seek treatment outside of the Region; and I think, most importantly, we know that about 30 per cent of people who have HIV don’t actually know there status. So, when you add all those things together we are forced to make a ballpark estimate.” Marcellus says at ACCKWA they offer HIV related support to between 150 and 200 people individuals living with HIV at any given time. Marcellus says a good thing he is noticing locally, is that more people are getting tested and making the diagnosis.
In Ontario, there are about 1000 people a year that are being diagnosed. Marcellus says that number has remained fairly stable over the past few years. “Globally, we’ve been seeing about a 20 per cent drop in infections since the height of the epidemic according to UNAIDS. But, the numbers are still really big and there are still about 7,000 new infections that are happening daily. And, among those, new infections outstrip the number of people getting treatment by about 2-1. That’s a very scary prospect,” says Marcellus.
Marcellus says we are poised to see the dawning of an HIV-free generation. “We have the tools and technology to be able to do that but what we need now is the will and the resources and unfortunately internationally what we’re seeing now is that countries are scaling back on funding,” says Marcellus. According to Marcellus, Canada has stopped funding for vaccine and microbicide research. “Earlier this spring we failed to pass Bill C-393, which would have increased access to life saving generic medication for people with things like tuberculosis and HIV,” adds Marcellus.
