AIDS Awareness Week activities in Adelaide this year will kick off with a unique event: the inaugural Walk for AIDS.

Taking place in the leafy surrounds of Adelaide’s Botanic Park, this fundraiser consists of a two kilometre walk, beginning with registrations at 10am. The cost of registration is $20 with all funds raised going to the AIDS Council of South Australia (ACSA). Participants will receive brunch, a showbag and a T-shirt.

“This is the first time we’ve held this event, so we expect that we’ll probably have a modest number of people attending this year,” ACSA Executive Director Shane Dinnison says. “That’s in the nature of these events, they start small and grow over the years.”

Given that ACSA has been part of the fight against HIV/AIDS since the mid 80s, the greatest danger is that the public will become complacent or apathetic about the issue.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to get the message out,” Dinnison confirms. “Especially since over the last ten years or so funding for HIV awareness campaigns have largely stagnated. So we just have to work that much harder.”

In contrast to that, attendance at AIDS Awareness Week events over the last few years has remained relatively stable.

“The numbers attending have been about the same for the last few years,” Siobhan Evans says. “In fact there are regulars who are always there, year in, year out.”

Apart from spreading the message about safe sex and harm minimisation in intravenous drug use, ACSA’s big challenge at the moment is to promote regular testing among those most at risk: men who have sex with other men.

“Know your status, that’s the message,” Dinnison says. “We want people to have a sexual health repertoire that includes regular testing. As a rule, someone who is sexually very active should get tested every three months. Others should get tested every six months.”

Dinnison acknowledges that access to testing is sometimes difficult.

“Most GPs, for example, won’t think of a sexual health test as part of a regular check-up. You really need to ask for testing, and that can be embarrassing if you don’t want to reveal your sexual orientation,” Dinnison says. “So it’s going to be a challenge to make testing more accessible for everybody.”

AIDS Awareness Week is a vital time of year for ACSA, PLWHA(SA) and other organisations, with funds raised for the Red Ribbon Bobby Goldsmith Fund vital to their ongoing care for people who are affected by HIV/AIDS. Red Ribbon Day this year is Friday November 27 and collectors will be spread through the CBD from 7:30 in the morning to 8:00 at night, including the Red Ribbon Information Booth in Rundle Mall.

Volunteers will also be out and about at Picnic in the Park, selling Red Ribbon paraphernalia including T-shirts, badges, wrist-bands, and Christmas Cards.

The eve of World AIDS Day will see the traditional Candlelight Memorial. A nation-wide occasion for remembrance and reflection, the Memorial will begin with a picnic dinner (provided) and will include presentation of sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt.

On World AIDS Day itself, Relationships Australia and the HIV Women’s Project will hold a special lunch: Celebrate Women. Although in Australia HIV affects largely men who have sex with men, of the estimated 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS worldwide, 15.5 million of them are women.

Also, the traditional World AIDS Day Mass will be held at St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral on Victoria Square at 5:45pm.

Dinnison says the importance of World AIDS Day can’t be overstressed. “HIV/AIDS is still an epidemic, it’s one of the biggest health threats in the world,” he says. “With so many million living with the virus and so many people killed, this is no time to get complacent.”

Pictured: ACSA volunteer Desiree D’Orsay-Lawrence sells red ribbons at last year’s badge day. Photo courtesy ACSA.

AIDS Awareness Week

Calendar of Events

Sunday November 22

Walk for AIDS,

Botanic Park, North Tce, Adelaide

10am Registration on Plane Tree Drive

Friday November 27

Red Ribbon Day,

Throughout the CBD

7:30am – 8pm

Sunday November 29

Picnic in the Park,

Veale Gardens, South Tce, Adelaide

Red Ribbon merchandise on sale.

Monday November 30

AIDS Candlelight Memorial,

Positive Living Centre

16 Malwa St, Glandore.

6pm

Tuesday December 1

World AIDS Day

Celebrating Women on World AIDS Day,

Relationships Australia,

49A Orsmond St, Hindmarsh

12pm-3pm RSVP 8245-8100/ 8239-9600

World AIDS Day Mass,

St Francis Xavier Cathedral

39 Wakefield St, Adelaide

5:45pm

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed