On September 22, Toronto walked together to show support for those living with HIV/AIDS. With great progresses having been made in mitigating HIV/AIDS, a sense of optimism has replaced the traditional permeating fear of the epidemic. The walk raised over $325,000 in funds to support programs and services for Torontonians living with HIV/AIDS.
This year’s Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life marks the 25th anniversary of AIDS Walk in Toronto. The annual AIDS Walk continues nationwide to raise substantial funding for HIV-related research and services. The more than $325,000 raised this year will go to the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). With a new route, the AIDS Walk brought walkers to historically important sites concerning Torontorian responses to fighting HIV/AIDS. Sites included the Canadian Lesbian & Gay Archives, and the first care home in Toronto for people combatting aids.
Among the many walkers, U of T’s nine-member team — which was led by UTSU vice-president, equity Yolen Bollo-Kamara and U of T’s Sexual & Gender Diversity Office (SGDO) — raised over $700 for the cause. Michael Smith, a student at the Transitional Year Program, raised the largest amount for the team. “I joined this year’s aids Walk in memory of my brother, Edward, who died [of AIDS] in 2002,” said Smith. Bollo-Kamara expressed both her belief that HIV/AIDS remains an important issue in our society and her desire to raise awareness among fellow students of HIV/AIDS.
Scott Clarke, a staff member at the SGDO, said that it is important for the university and its students to show support for those people living with HIV/AIDS — a group which includes students.
The most recent annual report by the UN stated that “striking gains have been made towards many of the 2015 targets and elimination commitments, although significant challenges remain.” The report also stated that there have been significant gains in meeting the needs of the millions of people in the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum who live with the disease.
Over the past 25 years, public understanding of HIV/AIDS has shifted gradually yet significantly, from the mass fear of “the gay disease” to a general understanding that the disease that can be prevented and mitigated. Advances in treatments and medicines for HIV/AIDS, such as antiretroviral drugs, have helped people around the world fight the infection and move forward with their daily lives.
Above all, the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS mitigation policies depends not only on innovations in the scientific community, but on local community and wider societal interventions to ensure accessibility to HIV/AIDS prevention programs and medical interventions. In this respect, act has been at the forefront of both confronting the societal stigma against and general ignorance of HIV/AIDS for 30 years. It provides services to Canadians at various risk levels of getting infections — including LGBT teenagers and women, and HIV-positive groups.
Community support in Canada for people with HIV/AIDS is growing. Yet social stigma against HIV-positivity remains a problem to be dealt with, especially for at-risk groups. Through AIDS Walk for Life, our city and country show symbolic and crucial support to those who may be living in fear of isolation because of their HIV-positivity.
