Region Marks World AIDS Day

Los Angeles County residents commemorated World AIDS Day with rallies, fairs and fundraisers Monday, as tens of thousands of people around the globe paid their respects to the 8,000 who die from the disease every day.

“World AIDS Day really is just a day to remember individuals who have died and a reminder that the epidemic is still with us,” said David Giugni, social service program specialist for the city of West Hollywood, where three events were held.

According to the state Department of Health Services, more than 132,000 people in California have had AIDS as of Oct. 1, an increase of 5,000 since Oct. 1, 2002.

Members of the UCLA World AIDS Day Awareness Committee held a fair and passed out 7,000 red ribbons.

“We wanted to make our campus more aware of how it’s affecting our communities, people in our age range,” said Jenny Wood, one of the organizers.

“Hopefully, it will give students more opportunities to participate in volunteering or writing to politicians or fundraising.”

In Lincoln Heights, a nonprofit group broke ground for an AIDS memorial at Lincoln Park, and in Hollywood, the nonprofit Partners in Malawi held a fundraiser at the House of Blues to help pay for medical treatment for HIV patients in Africa.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposal to cap state spending on medicines for HIV-positive adults was criticized by officials who called on the governor to retain full funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.

“The governor has the money, and we’re urging him to spend it,” said John King, executive director of the Weingart Center, a nonprofit medical-support organization in Los Angeles.

King said the cap could have devastating effects, because the number of AIDS cases in the state has continued to rise.

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Associated Press contributed to this report.