Local advocacy organizations will host events next week to raise awareness about the prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the Akron community.
The World AIDS Day event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 1 at the Highland Theatre, 826 W. Market St. in Akron’s Highland Square neighborhood.
The event is free and will include live entertainment, appetizers and a raffle.
Keynote speaker and national advocate Tami Haught will discuss how stigma and misunderstandings about the way HIV is spread has “criminalized” the virus. Haught and others say it’s unfair for a person who is HIV positive to face criminal charges for actions such as forcefully expressing saliva that are unlikely to spread the virus.
A community forum will be held later in the week, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Akron Urban League, 440 Vernon Odom Blvd. in Akron’s Lane-Wooster neighborhood. Several speakers are set to make presentations, including keynote speaker Kate Boulton with the Center for HIV Law and Policy.
According to Ohio Department of Health data, 820 people in Summit County were living with diagnosed HIV or AIDS as of 2014, the most recent year for which data is available.
Since 2010, an average of 36 county residents have been diagnosed each year. The majority of those living with HIV or AIDS are men who contracted the virus from same-sex sexual activity. The largest percentage of Summit County residents who have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS are white, but black residents are disproportionately affected.
The AIDS awareness events are planned by the Akron AIDS Collaborative and the Northeast Ohio Regional Advisory Group, which includes the local Community AIDS Network/Akron Pride Initiative (CANAPI).
“It’s important to put a face on HIV — to think of it in terms of real people instead of statistics or ‘that virus that has nothing to do with me,’” said Rebecca Callahan, director of CANAPI. “Whether or not you are aware, you know someone that is affected by the virus.”