We’ll be flying the Red Ribbon flag from Brighton & Hove town halls again this year to mark World AIDS Day.
Held globally each year on 1 December, World AIDS Day supports people living with HIV and commemorates those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.
The red ribbon is an important symbol of awareness and shows our commitment to the fight against HIV.
Councillor Bruno De Oliveira, chair of the Health & Wellbeing Board, said: “World AIDS Day is a call to remember all those who have died from an AIDS-related illness.
“Thanks to scientific advances, today people living with HIV can do so without fear of ever developing AIDS or passing it on – if they are taking medication.
“And to do so they need to know their status. HIV hasn’t gone away, and we all have a role to play in getting tested regularly.
“We are a UK Fast Track City, a global initiative to end HIV as a public health threat, and we have made great progress towards our goals and new HIV diagnoses continue to fall.
“This has only been possible through our close work with the NHS and organisations including Lunch Positive, the Martin Fisher Foundation and the Sussex Beacon.
“We are proud that our city is at the cutting edge of testing and treatment and urge people to get tested now to keep themselves and loved ones safe.”
Everyone’s welcome to attend the remembrance event of those we have lost to HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove. There will be a reading of the names and a candlelight vigil. Space will be available for anyone seeking quiet moments of reflection.
The annual Brighton AIDS Memorial Vigil is hosted by the Brighton & Hove World AIDS Day Community Partnership.
New names to be read (in addition to those read in previous years) can be added to the list at the New Steine Gardens Memorial Space between 4 to 5pm on the day of the vigil.
For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/worldAIDSdayBH
Performances from the Actually Gay Men’s Chorus, Brighton Gay Men’s Chorus and Rainbow Chorus raising funds for Lunch Positive. For more information, visit the Brighton & Hove World Aids Day Concert website.
This year the Brighton AIDS Memorial is proud to display a moving selection of original huge Quilt Panels from the National UK AIDS Quilt in Jubilee Library.
The panels commemorate local people who died of HIV/AIDS in Brighton & Hove and were hand-crafted by their loved ones. The panels have not been seen in the city since the 1990s, when they last hung in the Corn Exchange as part of the 1993 Brighton Remembers AIDS Memorial Quilt exhibition.
The original embroidered quilt panels can be seen hanging in the huge main spaces of Jubilee Library alongside supportive panels highlighting the lives of some key local activists, who were lost to HIV, in the windows of the library.
The exhibition is free, open to all and supported by the council’s LGBTQ+ Workers Forum.
Read more about the work of the Towards Zero HIV Taskforce.
Get an HIV test in Brighton & Hove
HIV is easy to test for, and treatment is now so effective that that once diagnosed and on treatment, it is impossible to pass on the virus.
The Martin Fisher Foundation has put together a short explainer video to show how we can end HIV transmission.