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WORLD AIDS DAY 2001 COMMEMORATED IN TACOMA

 

The fourteenth annual observance of World AIDS Day will be commemorated in Tacoma on Saturday, December 1, 2001.  The event, sponsored by the Pierce County AIDS Foundation, will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Immanuel Presbyterian Church, located at 901 North J Street.  World AIDS Day has a special place in the history of the AIDS pandemic.  Since 1988, it has been a day bringing messages of compassion, hope, solidarity and understanding about AIDS to people in every country around the world, North and South, East and West.

 

The public is encouraged to attend.  The event will include musical presentations by the Voices of St. John gospel choir, and a dramatic presentation by the Teen Council of Planned Parenthood.  Candles will be lit in memory of people lost to AIDS.  A keynote address will address teens and the effect HIV/AIDS is having on this generation.  The Pierce County AIDS Foundation 2001 Community Service Awards will be given to Gloria Martin (owner of the Southern Kitchen restaurant) and the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation.  Both Ms. Martin and Margy McGroarty, president of the Greater Tacoma Community Foundation have long histories of working in the community to raise awareness and funding for prevention education to save lives.  Finally, recipient agencies of the Pierce County AIDS Walk (the Tacoma Urban League, AIDS Housing Association - Tacoma, Brother to Brother, New DAY Diaz Art for Youth, Bridges/A Center for Grieving Children, Community Health Care, Northwest REACH, and Planned Parenthood) will receive their grants during the event, as well.  Sign language interpretation during the event will be provided by Tim Koob.

 

The American Association for World Health has designated the theme for this year's World AIDS Day, "I Care…Do You: Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century".   The theme was chosen to emphasize that every individual has a responsibility and an opportunity to make a constructive contribution to the prevention of HIV/AIDS.  It underscores that youth are significantly infected and affected by HIV and calls for greater education and involvement of young people in diagnosing, treating, and preventing HIV/AIDS.  Prevention and protection programs geared toward youth are needed now more than ever, as evidence by these worldwide statistics:

 

Because of the magnitude of the pandemic, the United States has declared AIDS a national security threat.  AIDS does not discriminate based upon race, age, gender, sexual orientation, class, or religion; it affects children as well as adults.  All communities are being affected by the continuing spread of the AIDS pandemic.  The number of people with HIV disease is estimated at over 36 million people, and nearly 22 million people have already died from AIDS.  Of the estimated 15,000 new infections every day,  8,500 are in young people under 25 years of age.  Worldwide, 95% of all HIV-infected people live in developing regions of the world, where social, economic, cultural and political conditions contribute to the spread of the virus.  Over 13 million children have been orphaned by AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic; by 2010, there may be over 30 million AIDS orphans.

 

AIDS around the world:

Australia & New Zealand          15,000

North Africa and Middle East 400,000

Eastern Europe       700,000

Western Europe        540,000

Eastern Asia       640,000

North America       920,000

Latin America    1,400,000

South & South-East Asia    5,800,000

Sub-Saharan Africa  25,300,000

    35,815,000 =   estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS

 

As of December, 2000, 765,559 people in the United States had been diagnosed with AIDS; over 443,000 people have died.  The Centers for Disease Control estimates that approximately 650- 900,000 Americans are infected with HIV.  Today, one-half of all new HIV infections in the United States occur in people under the age of 25. 

 

In Washington State, as of October, 2001, 9,825 persons have been diagnosed with AIDS.  Of these, 5,492 persons have already died.  From AIDS surveillance data and HIV infection rate data, up to 12,000 Washingtonians are believed to be HIV infected and are susceptible to AIDS and death.

 

In Pierce County, 888 persons have been diagnosed with AIDS; nearly 500 have died.  The Pierce County AIDS Foundation has provided care services to 1,274 persons who have sought care since the Foundation opened in 1987.  It is estimated that 900-1,400 persons in Pierce County are infected with HIV.

 

Jeannie Darneille, Executive Director of the Pierce County AIDS Foundation, notes that "While the number of new AIDS cases is declining in the United States, the number of people living with HIV infection is increasing.  This places both a greater demand on services, and indicates that even more prevention efforts are needed.  We are grateful for the advances in medical care that have improved the lives of people who know their health status and grateful for the response by individuals and organizations in our community to help people facing HIV and AIDS." 

 

For more information on World AIDS Day, call the Pierce County AIDS Foundation at 383-2565.

 

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