BRATTLEBORO — The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont is inviting the public to a World AIDS Day observation on Friday, Nov. 30 at noon at Centre Congregational Church on Main Street.
The commemoration of those affected by the virus and those working to combat it will feature a sidewalk candlelight vigil, followed by Dora Urujeni, who will speak about working in Rwanda. Music will be provided by The Harmony Lot, a local a cappella group.
According to a news release, the Brattleboro-based AIDS Project serves more than 80 clients in Bennington and Windham counties.
It is one of three AIDS service organizations in Vermont working to balance steady caseloads - about 600 people statewide are living with the human immunodeficiency virus that causes the disease - as the federal government shifts its financial assistance from smaller towns to bigger cities.
Since the beginning of the epidemic, nearly 40 million people have died of AIDS. An equal number now live with HIV, the virus that causes the disease.
Local observers of World AIDS Day describe that figure as both good and bad news.
At least a dozen or more Vermonters, nearly 40,000 Americans, and 2 million people worldwide are newly diagnosed annually. But an infection that older generations once feared is now often dismissed as just another sexually transmitted disease.
AIDS Project executive director Karen Peterson hopes the organization will change that.
“By providing people with information on how HIV is transmitted and encouraging them to get tested, we hope they will have the skills, knowledge and capability to protect themselves from HIV,” Karen Peterson says. “There are medications that help you live longer, but if you can avoid getting the disease, it's so much better.”