A candlelight vigil for World AIDS Day will be held on Monday, Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m. in Friendship Square, near the fountain, in downtown Moscow. The vigil is organized by Inland Oasis, a local LGBTQ+ rights organization, and will be lead in a short prayer and reflection by Rev. Mary Beth Rivetti of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.
The vigil aims to honor the approximate 44.1 million people who have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic in 1981 and remind the Moscow community that AIDS/HIV has not disappeared.
Inland Oasis staff will provide those who attend with bags containing a tea light candle.
According to UNAIDS, there are approximately 40.8 million people worldwide living with HIV, 1.3 million of which contracted it in 2024. There were an estimated 630,000 annual deaths from AIDS-related illnesses in 2024. Across the United States, about 1.13 million people were living with HIV in 2023, according to the CDC.
When contracted, HIV attacks the immune system and makes it difficult for the body to fight off other infections, illnesses and certain cancers. Without treatment, HIV leads to a decline in overall health and can progress to AIDS, the most advanced state of an HIV infection.
HIV is transmitted though bodily fluids, of which the most common ways are penetrative sex and sharing injection equipment such as needles or syringes. Women with HIV can transmit it to their baby during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
Treatment in the form of daily medicines and scheduled injections can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood but does not cure the infection. When treated consistently, HIV transmission though sex can be reduced to zero and less than 1% for breastfeeding. Of the 40 million people infected, about 31.6 million were accessing treatment in 2024.
In the United States, gay and bisexual men are the population group most affected by HIV. Of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States, this group accounts for around 67% of cases according to the National Institute of Health. Anal sex is the riskiest type of sex for getting or transmitting HIV and has resulted in negative attitudes surrounding homosexuality which the NIH reported can discourage gay and bisexual men for getting tested or prevented the spread of HIV.
AIDS-related deaths have been reduced by 70% since the peak in 2004 and by 54% since 2010. Even still, one person died every minute due to contracting and HIV infection in 2024.
For more information on the vigil, visit the Inland Oasis website.
Joshua Reisenfeld can be reached at [email protected].