World AIDS Day observance remembers those whose lives were lost

Patricia Kimball grew solemn as she looked over the lists of names displayed around a long table at the Inn at Centre Park.

Lighted by candles and arranged in date order, the lists contained the names of the 566 Berks Countians who died of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS, since 1988, when local record-keeping began.

The tabletop memorial Friday was the focal point of Co-County Wellness Services’ Raise a Glass in Remembrance, an observance of World AIDS Day.

The day of remembrance is observed worldwide Dec. 1, and about 80 people attended the memorial reception at the inn.

The hundreds of names printed in black ink on white paper reminded Kimball of Wyomissing of the friends she lost to the disease and the many others who were otherwise impacted by AIDS in various ways.

Kimball, who lived for nearly 40 years in San Francisco, was there at ground zero during the height of the AIDS crisis.

“I had quite a few friends, who were affected in one way or another by the disease,” she said, noting one of them was a physician who worked with early AIDS patients before the human immunodeficiency virus that causes the illness was fully understood and the fear of infection made discrimination against people living with AIDS common.

That fear and discrimination were present in Berks, too, when Co-County was started as an AIDS Service Organization in 1985.

“The impact of this epidemic has been profound, affecting individuals, families and entire communities like ours right here in Berks County and across the globe,” said Carolyn M. Bazik, executive director of the nonprofit.

Advanced medications can now suppress the virus, making it harder to transmit and keeping it from spreading through sexual contact, Bazik said. But despite tremendous progress, there are approximately 1.5 million new cases of HIV globally every year, including over 35,000 new infections in the U.S.

World AIDS Day serves as a reminder of the global struggle to end HIV-related stigma, an opportunity to honor those we have lost, and a rallying cry to continue working toward a day when HIV is no longer a public health threat, she said.

“This year we mark the 35th commemoration of this important day with the theme World AIDS Day: Remember and Commit,” Bazik said.

Significant progress in addressing HIV/AIDS has been made thanks to advancements in medical research, increased access to treatment and prevention, and a broader understanding of the virus, she said.

“We have also seen a tremendous global advocacy community unite to take on challenges and hold institutions accountable for ensuring access to these advancements,” she noted.

While great progress has been made globally, Bazik said, there are still approximately 39 million people with HIV in 2022. Of these, 37.5 million were adults, and 1.5 million were children under age 15. In addition, 53% were women and girls.

“Here in the US approximately 1.2 million people have HIV and about 13 percent of them don’t know it and still need testing,” Bazik said, “and HIV continues to have a disproportionate impact on certain populations, particularly racial and ethnic minorities and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men.”

Remembering those whose lives were lost not only honors their memory, Bazik said, but also emphasizes the urgency of a commitment to end the HIV epidemic.

Co-County’s menu of free services to people in Berks and Schuylkill counties ranges from medical case management, treatment-adherence education, HIV testing and counseling and STD screening to COVID-19 services and the Berks Teens Initiative, which over the past eight years has successfully reduced the teen pregnancy rate in Berks by nearly 50%.

Source: Berkshire mont