Belizeans march against AIDS

With Belize ranked as having the highest per capita HIV/AIDS rate in Central America, World AIDS Day this year is even more meaningful. This evening the National AIDS Task Force along with HIV/AIDS district committees held the annual Candle Light AIDS Walk. The activity, which got underway in Belize City at the Constitution Park, is just one of the many activities to commemorate the twelfth observance of World AIDS Day. The walk, a swim meet and the Alpheus Williams Cycling Classic are all designed to get the message out: AIDS kills. But are people listening? The National AIDS Task Force reports that approximately seven hundred and fifty people throughout Belize have died from AIDS. Dana Rhamdas, a consultant with the National AIDS Task Force, says there are now three hundred and fifty people with full-blown AIDS. Despite the frightening statistics and easily available prevention and intervention measures, Belizeans are still not taking the necessary steps to protect themselves. Rhamdas hopes that the walk will somehow reinforce this year’s campaign theme message: “Listen, Learn, Live! World AIDS Campaign”.

Dana Rhamdas, Consultant, National AIDS Task Force

“The purpose of the AIDS Walk is in remembrance of all those who have died from AIDS, to show support to people who are still living with AIDS or HIV and to mobilize community support for HIV.

I would like to say that HIV/AIDS is everybody’s business and I would like to encourage everybody, everybody to get involved in the fight against HIV.”

The National AIDS Task Force estimates that there are seven thousand people in Belize who have been infected with the HIV virus and may not even be aware of it. The United Nations AIDS organization estimates that worldwide thirty three million people are infected with the disease. Ninety-five percent live in developing countries. Three hundred and fifty thousand people with HIV and AIDS reside in the Caribbean.