Several dozen people observed World AIDS Day with a somber candlelight ceremony at the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts Monday evening.
After a march down King Street, the gathering – many dressed in red – crowded into the art center. Representatives from the sponsoring agencies, and others, discussed the disease, the stigma that clings to it and offered words of encouragement to victims and families.
A proclamation from Gov. John deJongh, Jr. and greeting from incoming Gov. Kenneth Mapp were read before audience members gave moving presentations, including the story of Ryan White.
White was diagnosed with AIDS, contracted from a blood transfusion, when he was 13 years old. He and his mother became advocates for his right to attend school and helped educate the public about the disease. He died in 1990 at the age of 18. A federal program that provides services for victims with insufficient health care has been named for him.
Leslie Raymer, the Ryan White coordinator for the V.I. Health Department, talked about AIDS statistics and said 39 million people have died AIDS-related diseases, compared to 175,000 from the plague, 6,000 from Ebola (to date) and 775 from SARS. She asked the audience to remember the media coverage SARS received in relationship to AIDS fatalities.
Currently, 35 million people live with AIDS and only five million get the necessary medication, she said.
“Black and brown people are dying by the millions and the drug companies just sit and wait,” she said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are an estimated 1.2 million people in the United States with HIV and one in seven aren’t aware they are infected. Each year, approximately 50,000 people become infected, and the largest number of new infections are men who have sex with men of all races and ethnicities. The second highest incidence is among African American heterosexual women.
In the Virgin Islands, the DOH reported in 2010 there were more than 630 people living with HIV/AIDS and almost 400 have died from AIDS-related illnesses.
Department of Health officials talked about efforts to educate young people about HIV/AIDS. An art contest was conducted recently for junior high and high school students to think about preventing and reducing HIV infections.
Astia LeBron, DOH public relations director, introduced an essay contest to engage young males between the ages of 13 and 16 to get them talking about the disease.
Masserae Webster, chief executive officer for Frederiksted Health Care, Inc., one of the sponsors, read a poignant poem about a woman bravely struggling with AIDS.
“It’s important to bring awareness to our community. In our community, there is too much taboo associated with HIV/AIDS. It’s an illness like any other illness,” Webster said after the event.
After the speakers, participants silently lit red votive candles and carried white candles out to the waterfront in memory of the fight against HIV/AIDS. Red rose petals were scattered on the waves by those remembering a loved one who lived or died with the disease.
The event was sponsored by V.I. Community AIDS Research and Education (VICARE, Inc.), the Health Department and Frederiksted Health Care, Inc.