Laguna Beach will recognize World AIDS Day with candlelight vigil
Laguna Beach will once again honor people who have died from AIDS during a ceremony Friday at Main Beach.
The city’s HIV Advisory Committee will host a candlelight vigil on the cobblestone area beginning at 5 p.m.
Attendees will read names of loved ones and friends who have died from the disease, which weakens people’s immune systems.
HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS, attacks the body’s immune system, specifically the CD4 cells (T-cells), which help fight off infections, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
If left untreated, HIV reduces the number of T-cells in the body, making the person more likely to get infections or infection-related cancers.
There were 36.7 million people worldwide living with HIV at the end of 2016, according to the World Health Organization. As of last July, 20.9 million people with HIV were receiving antiretroviral therapy.
Experts identified the virus in 1984. Since that time more than 35 million people have died of HIV or AIDS, according to the World AIDS Day website.
James Bunn and Thomas Netter co-founded World AIDS Day, which began in 1988 when the two men were public information officers for the Global Programme on AIDS, according to National Public Radio.
World AIDS Day takes place on Dec. 1 every year and offers an opportunity to support people living with HIV.
HIV Committee members will place red ribbons on trees in Laguna’s downtown on Wednesday. Each ribbon has the first name and last initial of a Laguna Beach resident who has died of AIDS.
Twitter: @AldertonBryce
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