AIDS Awareness Walk brings funds to Public Health Branch tonight

The community is invited to participate in Redwood Coast Rotaract’s AIDS Awareness Walk tonight at 6 p.m.

The walk will begin at the United Methodist Church on H Street with a short video and presentation with some facts about HIV/AIDS, its stigma and how it affects everyone, said Samantha Hunt, the president of Rotaract.

“We are all aware that it’s something we need to work on,” she said.

A candlelight walk begins shortly thereafter down H and 3rd streets to the plaza, where Rotaract will present the county’s Public Health Branch with a commitment to donate money the group has raised for HIV/AIDS awareness.

Rotaract raised $130 with a bake sale after the Christmas Light Parade last Saturday. Donations are still being accepted leading up to the candlelight walk.

Rotaract member Kyle Clausen suggested the group do something to coincide with World AIDS Day today, Hunt said. December is also AIDS Awareness Month.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 1.2 million people  in the United States are living with HIV infection and one in five people are unaware of it. An estimated 33 million people worldwide are infected with HIV and since the epidemic began in the early 1980s, about 25 million have died from the disease.

HIV stands for Human Immunodeficiency Virus, which attacks the immune system. AIDS, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, develops from infection.

There is no cure for HIV/AIDS, but there is a treatment called Anti-Retroviral Therapy. According to the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), anti-retroviral drugs can help people with HIV/AIDS live longer and reduce the liklihood they will be hospitalized due to the disease.

However, the number of people infected with HIV/AIDS has continued to increase in California, according to OSHPD.

Fewer people with HIV are developing AIDS, fewer are dying from the disease and the hospitalization rate of people living with HIV/AIDS in California has dropped off since the introduction of anti-retroviral drugs in 1992, according to OSHPD.  

Of the funds raised by Rotaract, 15 percent will go to the National AIDS Trust to help pay for research, prevention and eradication. The other 85 percent will stay locally with Public Health to go toward prevention and awareness materials, Hunt said.

The group wants to have an annual AIDS awareness event and will set aside a fund to take donations, Hunt said.

Rotaract is a Rotary International service organization for adults 18-30 years old. The group needs more members, Hunt said. Members meet the first and third Mondays of the month at 5:30 p.m. at Pizza King.

For more information, go to Redwood Coast Rotaract’s Facebook page or call Hunt at 465-0946.