World AIDS Day 2020: a vigil to acknowledge communities' resilience

MONTRÉAL, Dec. 1, 2020 /CNW/ - The Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le sida (TOMS) draws attention to World AIDS Day with the 32nd Annual Commemoration Vigil taking place online on December 1^st, 2020, at 5:00 PM.

Today, millions of people around the world are affected by HIV/AIDS, and we must continue awareness-raising efforts. The Vigil is an opportunity to honour the memory of those whom we have lost to the HIV/AIDS crisis. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event will be held online this year.

People living with HIV and communities vulnerable to HIV – Black people, Indigenous people, other racialized groups, migrants with precarious status, LGBTQ2S+ communities, sex workers, people who use drugs and people from countries where HIV is endemic – have forged a great resilience over the decades.

Because of stigmatisation and marginalization they face, these communities have been particularly impacted since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this reason, it is necessary to acknowledge and value their decades of experience and expertise on handling a pandemic, as well as the strategies they have developed to respond to it: solidarity, prevention and harm reduction.

« We must listen to and learn from communities in order to improve the way the COVID-19 pandemic is handled. It is essential to create adapted responses to people's needs that adhere to human rights principles and that do not encourage repression and criminalization» declares Sandra Wesley, TOMS president.

To celebrate and honour past and ongoing resilience, the Vigil will feature both spoken addresses and moments of reflection throughout.

About

TOMS is a grouping of 30 regional community organizations committed to combating HIV/AIDS.

SOURCE Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le sida (TOMS)

Sandra Wesley, TOMS president, [email protected], 514-984-6319.