Rain put a slight damper on the activities that marked Jersey City’s 27th World AIDS Day Observance in City Hall on Dec. 1, and may have reduced the gathering to the small but dedicated group who were able to attend. The weather prevented the participants from conducting the traditional candle light ritual outdoors, but two dozen people held lighted candles in the City Council Chambers as they called out the names of loved one and others who have perished from the disease.
Councilwoman Joyce Watterman represented Mayor Steven Fulop and the City Council. Other participants came from various religious and activist groups to mark the day and make note of the progress that has been made against a disease that once killed most of those who contracted it.
“The good news is that fewer people are dying from AIDS,” said Evelyn Lomax-Williams, family care coordinator at the Center for Comprehensive Care. “But new incidences have drastically increased.”
In 1989, she said, 90 percent of those suffering from AIDS died. In 2013, that number was down to 7 percent.
In 2013, Jersey City had the sixth highest rate of AIDS in the state, while New Jersey was among the states with the highest in the nation with reported cases.
In 2013, Jersey City, with a population of 254,441, had 7,166 reported cases of AIDS. Of these, 5024 were men, 2,483 were African-American, and 1,339 were Hispanic. Most of the cases were in the age group from 25 to 44. The two primary ways of contracting the disease were male to male sexual contact or intravenous drug use, according to statistics supplied by the Centers for Disease Control.
“This is about people, and putting up a fight.” – Stacy Flanagan
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HIV/AIDS is the world’s leading infectious killer. The WHO estimated 39 million people have died since the first cases were reported in 1981 and 1.5 million people died of AIDS-related causes in 2013.
Successes and promising signs
“New global efforts have been mounted to address the epidemic, particularly in the last decade,” said the WHO report. “Prevention has helped to reduce HIV prevalence rates in a small but growing number of countries and new HIV infections are believed to be on the decline.”
The motto for this year’s World AIDS Day was “Shared responsibility, strengthening results for an AIDS-free generation, and ‘Getting to Zero.’”
Jersey City Health Educator/AIDS Coordinator Linda Ivory-Green, who served as master of ceremonies for the commemoration, urged people to band together to accomplish this goal.
“Our goal is to go to zero, and the only way to get there is to collectively say we have a zero tolerance for not caring, not being compassionate, not letting people know they can engage in health care, and health care is available to them,” Williams said.
In what became the emotional center of the commemoration, Timothy Daniels, a peer outreach worker at Jersey City Medical Center, spoke about how he contracted AIDS and the impact it had on his life and his family.
“I did what I did,” he said. “But I want to be the face of HIV. I want people to know this face and know this face is still around.”
Stacy Flanagan, director of the city’s Department of Health and Human Services, said she started in this field when she was still in college, where she worked to get everybody tested for HIV.
“Everybody is affected,” she said. “We are resolved to get new cases to zero.”
In the chamber during the ceremony, a portion of the AIDS Quilt was on display, a quilt made in memory of those who have perished as a result of AIDS. Flanagan said she was moved by every thread that made it up.
“This is not just about ribbons,” she said, referring to the red ribbons many people wore to show their support in the fight against AIDS, “This is about people and putting up a fight.”
As a minister as well as a councilwoman, Watterman said she had encountered many sad stories in regards to AIDS in Jersey City.
“AIDS has touched all of us,” Watterman said. “But will not defeat us. We won’t quit. We won’t give up. We will stand together in harmony, lift our voices, and let the world know that we are still here.”
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.