Yesterday, World AIDS Day, Bay Area church services acknowledged lives lost in the HIV/AIDS pandemic and elected officials issued statements marking the day.
Sunday services at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco included acknowledgements of the HIV/AIDS pandemic's impact, the GLBT Historical Society debuted a photo exhibition and California state Sen. Scott Wiener and President Joe Biden released statements.
Weiner said that on the commemoration: "We remember those we've lost, double down on our support for those living with the virus or at risk for it, and strengthen our resolve to end new HIV infections once and for all, here and around the world.”
The senator said that broad access to HIV testing and treatment and broad access to PrEP could mean "the end of HIV infections."
PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, is medicine people at risk for HIV take to prevent getting HIV from sex or injection drug use. PrEP can stop HIV from taking hold and spreading throughout the body. It reduces the risk of getting HIV from sex by about 99 percent when taken as prescribed, according to the HIV.gov website.
President Biden also marked the occasion, issuing a formal proclamation and posting a statement on social media.
Also, the GLBT Historical Society debuted a new photography exhibition called "Focus on Living: Portraits of Americans with HIV and AIDS" yesterday, in time for World AIDS Day.
More than 32 million people have died worldwide from AIDS-related illness, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Between 2018 and 2022, the CDC says HIV infections have decreased by more than 10 percent.
