From: Ann Jones
Columbus
World AIDS Day established in 1988 and observed annually on Dec, 1, a day to commemorate the 42 million people globally who have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the start of the epidemic, and honor the more than 39 million people, including 1.2 million Americans, living with HIV around the world. World AIDS Day serves as an important reminder that we must remain steadfast in our commitment to prevent new HIV infections and provide essential services to all people living with HIV.
However, despite the advancements we have made around the world and in the United States, our progress has been uneven, and challenges remain. In too many communities including our own, limited public awareness, lack of access, and sparse partner engagement continue to create barriers to comprehensive HIV prevention and treatment.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service’s (SAMHSA) mission is to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring equitable access and better outcomes.
Granny Connection’s organization placed red scarves downtown on World AIDS Day to remember and honor the more than 42 million persons who have died world wide from AIDS related illness. We support this year’s theme “Collective Action: Sustain and Accelerate HIV Progress.” This challenges our community to work collaboratively to decrease stigma in all its forms. We hope that perhaps you selected a warm, red scarf for yourself.
Love people until they are ready to love themselves. This involves healing the body, mind, and spirit through wrap around services. Our community has put forth a real effort to address drug use in Columbus , but harm reduction services are lacking. Including this help in our continuum of care spans interventions that support long term healing. People who use drugs have a right to establish a dialogue around their needs, expectations, and decision- making. Harm reduction is a cost -effective means to save lives, protect human rights, and improve public health. It is a necessary step for better personalized medicine.
