Join us this December with Red Ribbon Living Well CIC and Love, Sex, Life for our HIV Prevention event. Prevention is better than cure, and with the 2022 theme of Health Inequalities, we look toward ending stigma and inequality for all living with HIV or AIDS. Share in personal stories; interactive performances; histories; signposting; and support from healthcare professionals as we honour the past, support those in the present, and create a future of hope and shame-free care by celebrating advances in HIV testing and treatment.
Free HIV tests available throughout the day, lunch and refreshments provided!
Why do we commemorate?
Over 105,000 people are living with HIV in the UK. Globally, there are an estimated 38 million people who have the virus. As part of the collaboration between Love Sex, Life and Red Ribbon Living Well CIC, we understand that those in Lambeth, Southwark, and Lewisham are at a disproportionately higher risk of HIV exposure, with over 8,700 of the boroughs’ residents receiving a diagnosis. Though HIV/AIDS is common, stigma and misinformation surrounding it is all too real, with Black African women and men who have sex with other men being at the highest risk of infection most likely at of infection and cultural shame. According to UN AIDS, 40.1 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic. Through our event, we honour those lives lost, and uplift those today who live with HIV.
Why do we celebrate?
It is vital to remember that uniting against the HIV epidemic should not just be rooted to one day a year, and to emphasise that strength and solidarity to those daily living with a positive diagnosis. We celebrate the incredible strides made in medication, prevention, and care. We celebrate the histories of those most vulnerable to this epidemic. We uplift the legacies of those working to provide community care and support, and gesture toward a future wherein prevention is commonplace, compassion is absolute, and empowerment to live a healthy and happy life for all is tangible.
Join Red Ribbon Living Well and the Love Sex Life project for our Health Inequalities: HIV Prevention event
