today is international AIDS candlelight memorial day

light a candle today in memory of those who died from AIDS. this year’s theme is ‘together, we are the solution’.

international AIDS candlelight memorial day is an history tradition against HIV/AIDS.

a candlelight vigil will be held in 115 countries lead by varied coalitions of some 1,200 community organizations. the International AIDS candlelight vigil is a grassroots mobilization initiative against AIDS organized by the global health council.

in malaysia, to celebrate this day, the malaysian AIDS council is not planning candlelight vigil though. from their website i notice they are organising an event at a masjid at 5.00pm. they planned to focus on religion (thus to be held at a masjid?) to garner the support of religious leaders to fight stigma and discrimination against people living with AIDS (PLWA).

religious leaders? that sound familiar. in penang, two years ago, during world AIDS day (dec 1),  there was a forum tittled ‘combating AIDS through religion’ organised by the communuty aids penang (CASP) where various religious leaders were invited as speakers to speak about combating AIDS. i was there and blog about it here.

bear in mind that dec 1is world AIDS day while the 3rd sunday in may is international AIDS memorial day. there’s a difference. most people are more familiar wit the dec 1 world AIDS day i guess.

you can read more about the international AIDS candlelight memorial day at good ole’ wikipedia.