The usual candlelight vigil, staged by Jamaica AIDS Support for Life (JASL), will mark the country’s observation of World AIDS Day (WAD) today, December 1.

The three-hour event is to be held at the St Andrew Parish Church Hall in Half-Way-Tree from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

Staged for the past 33 years, the vigil is in remembrance of those who died from AIDS-related illnesses and are affected by HIV and AIDS in Jamaica.

According to JASL’s Executive Director Kandasi Walton-Levermore, the vigil is the advocacy organisation’s signature annual event “to be reminded of why we can’t stop even 30-plus years, almost 40 years of HIV [advocacy]”.

“It’s a solemn activity where we look back and remember those who were before us, who were leading this cause, championing those who we would have lost, and it reignites our fire every year to say, ‘We can’t stop.’ There are still people living with HIV. It’s a lifetime illness and so we cannot negate the support that the community needs and the policies that we need to change, and the society that we want to live in,” she said at a recent Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange.

She noted that JASL has been conducting a number of activities leading up to WAD that will go beyond that day and culminate on December 10.

These include educating people about HIV and carrying out HIV testing. She said JASL’s activities to recognise WAD have also been expanded under the One Health initiative, so people will not only learn about their HIV status but other aspects of their health, with screening also being done for diabetes, hypertension, and so on.

World AIDS Day is a global movement to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS. Since 1988, communities have stood together on World AIDS Day to show strength and solidarity against HIV stigma and to remember lives lost.

According to the United Kingdom-based AIDS charity, National AIDS Trust, World AIDS Day exists to shine a light on the real experiences of people living with HIV today while celebrating the strength, resilience, and diversity of the communities most affected. It is a moment to inspire the leadership needed to create a future in which HIV doesn’t stand in the way of anyone’s life.

This year’s theme for WAD is ‘Take the Rights Path: My Health, My Right!’ which is a call to action to protect the rights of people most affected by the virus and to ensure that everyone has access to health services and support.

According to UNAIDS, of the 39.9 million people living with HIV, 9.3 million people are still not accessing life-saving treatment. It said that last year 630,000 people died of AIDS-related illnesses and 1.3 million people around the world newly acquired HIV. In at least 28 countries, the number of new HIV infections is on the rise.