City council honors World Aids Day

By Katie Nichols (Contact) | Selma Times-Journal

Published Wednesday, November 25, 2009

SELMA — Living with AIDS or HIV is something the person will have to deal with every day of his life. Sometimes they have to face the disease alone, but on Dec. 1 Selma wants AIDS or HIV patients to know they are not forgotten.

The Selma City Council signed a proclamation Tuesday to officially make it World Aids/HIV Day in Selma.

“We want everyone to know living with AIDS or HIV that they are not forgotten,” said Cedric Wherry, who is coordinating Dec. 1 events. “The proclamation makes the worldwide day official in Selma.”

On Dec. 1 a luncheon will be held at the Dallas County Health Department at 11:30 a.m. The recognition will continue at 2 p.m. on the steps of City Hall.

“We’re going to have several people in the area share their stories,” Wherry said. “The program is going to be very short and then after it will be a candlelight vigil. I know it is during the day, but we want a lot of people to come out.”

The World AIDS Campaign is an international alliance of national, regional and international civil society groups united by the call for governments to honor their AIDS commitments under the slogan “Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise.”

The campaign is governed by a steering committee of global constituency-based networks and supported by a team of support staff based primarily in Cape Town, South Africa and partially in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In 2007, the estimated number of persons diagnosed with AIDS in the United States and dependent areas was 37,041 according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. Of the cases, 35,962 were diagnosed in the 50 states and the District of Columbia and 812 were diagnosed in the dependent areas.

In the 50 states and the District of Columbia, adult and adolescent AIDS cases totaled 35,934 with 26,355 cases in males and 9,579 cases in females, and 28 cases estimated in children under age 13 years.

The cumulative estimated number of diagnoses of AIDS through 2007 in the United States and dependent areas was 1,051,875.

In 2007, people between the ages 40-49 accounted for the largest proportion of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases at 27 percent. People between 30-39 years old were the second largest proportion with 26 percent, which is followed closely by persons aged 20-29 with 25 percent.

African-Americans accounted for over half, 51 percent, of the estimated number of HIV/AIDS diagnoses made during 2007, followed by whites, 29 percent, and Hispanics, 18 percent, according to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention.

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