BANGOR, Maine — People gathered Tuesday in Bangor to commemorate World AIDS Day, an annual international event meant to raise awareness and bring attention to the global struggle with HIV.
The Health Equity Alliance recognized the day during an event in Pickering Square in downtown Bangor.
Maggie Campbell, community outreach coordinator for the alliance, said that while HIV-AIDS doesn’t get the attention and focus it once did, it’s still very much a problem.
“The reality is, there are still millions and millions of people living with the disease,” she said.
About 37 million people are living with HIV, the virus that if left untreated leads to AIDS, according to the World Health Organization, including 1.2 million in the United States. AIDS has killed 39 million since the 1980s.
While the spread has slowed among some demographics, disturbing trends have emerged in others. For example, young people age 13 to 24 accounted for an estimated 26 percent of all new HIV infections in the United States in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
“HIV-AIDS does not discriminate,” Campbell added.
Robert Knight was diagnosed with AIDS 19 years ago when he lived in Arizona. Today, he is an advocate for people who have been diagnosed with it in Maine and across the country, and he spoke to those who gathered in Bangor.
“I continue the fight,” Knight said after the event. “It’s my goal to get into local schools and social groups and speak about it.”
The best means of fighting HIV-AIDS continues to be spreading awareness and knowledge, and promoting safe sexual practices.
“The stigma is still there, and that’s the real scary part,” Knight added.
Bangor City Councilor Gibran Graham and Council Chairman Sean Faircloth also spoke at the event, presenting a resolution in support of the mission of World AIDS Day.
In a statement released Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree said the world should “recommit [itself] to ending this terrible disease.”
“We must continue to support those living with HIV and AIDS, make sure they get the treatment they need, and promote testing and prevention in the U.S. and abroad,” she said. “For the lives we’ve lost and the lives we can save, I will continue advocating for these efforts in Congress.”
Follow Nick McCrea at @nmccrea213.