AIDS Candlelight Memorial this Sunday

The AIDS Candlelight Memorial will be held this Sunday at the WA AIDS Memorial in Robertson Park, North Perth.

The state representatives of the National Association of People Living with HIV Australia invite everyone to attend this important community event.  Ryan Oliver and Paul Baines explain below why this event is so important.

The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is much more than just a memorial. The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial serves as a community mobilization campaign to raise social consciousness about HIV and AIDS. With 33 million people living with HIV today, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial serves as an important intervention for global solidarity, breaking down barriers of stigma and discrimination, and giving hope to new generations.

On behalf of the People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) in Western Australia (WA),  in our capacity as the WA National Association of People Living with HIV Australia(NAPWHA) Community Representatives, working in collaboration with the Western Australia AIDS Council (WAAC) we are hosting the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial that will be held at the Perth AIDS Memorial in Robertson Park, North Perth commencing at 6pm on Sunday the 15 May 2016.

“The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is much more than just a memorial. The International AIDS Candlelight Memorial serves as a community mobilisation campaign to raise social consciousness about HIV and AIDS.

“With 33 million people living with HIV today, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial serves as an important intervention for global solidarity, breaking down barriers of stigma and discrimination, and giving hope to new generations.”

Find out more about the International Candlelight Memorial 

The theme of this year’s International AIDS Candlelight Memorial is Engage, Educate and Empower and we are honoured to have Senator Dean Smith as Guest Speaker followed by speeches from infected and affected members of our community, concluding with the lighting of candles as a mark respect for those lives that have been taken from us too soon and to prompt awareness of HIV in the greater community.

The very first vigil was held in 1983 in San Francisco as a way to bring a community that was being devastated in the early days of the epidemic and was one of the first community events to put a face to a largely invisible disease at that time.

We extend an invite for all to attend this year’s International AIDS Candlelight Memorial to help bring awareness to HIV, remember those who have passed, reflect on how much progress has been made and inspire the PLHIV community onward.

Join this important community event at the Perth AIDS Memorial in Robertson Park, North Perth commencing at 6pm on Sunday the 15 May 2016.