Inter Press Service - February 25, 2000
Marwaan Macan-Markar

Some health activists say they expect the impact of AIDS on children to receive much more attention during this year's memorial. According to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), there are close to 8.2 million AIDS orphans in the developing world.

The Global Health Council (GHC), which organises the annual event, says this year's vigil reflects a greater level of commitment by the public to raise the profile of AIDS, since it will be marked in more places than last year, when the day was observed in 200 localities spread over 43 countries.

The theme of this year's memorial urges the healthy not to forget the sick, with the title "Break the Silence: Honour Every Death, Value Every Life." "The Candlelight Memorial is entirely grassroots-based, and is an opportunity for members of the community to honour those who have died and to renew their own commitment to fight AIDS," said Ron MacInnis, the director of the Global AIDS Programme.

Its poignancy, he said, stems from the manner in which the participants pursue their objective to increase awareness about the issues surrounding AIDS. "It is a wonderful, non-confrontational way to recognise and promote discussion on the important issues related to the transmission and control of the virus," MacInnis said.

For Peter Piot, the executive director of the United Nations department dealing with AIDS (UNAIDS), the memorial has become increasingly popular because of its ability to both generate a worldwide response - from Argentina to Zambia - and to convey the spirit of kinship of the participants.

"It is one of inclusion and not exclusion, of compassion and of joint actions," he observed.

When the first candlelight memorial was held in 1983, AIDS was still on the margins of global health concerns. At that time, the memorial served as a way for "communities to take action by publicly mourning loved ones lost to AIDS."

According to a GHC report, this focus has prevailed over the 16 years that followed, spurred by the number of families affected by the rapid spread of the disease. During this period, more than 14 million people have died due to the disease and close to 34 million people are currently living with HIV and AIDS.

In smaller communities, for instance, the memorial has helped to "increase awareness, understanding, volunteerism and fundraising," the report points out. And in larger cities, it has "brought together a diverse spectrum of people who care about AIDS."

But the memorial is not limited to activities compressed into a single day, nor is it conducted in a uniform manner around the world.

Each local coordinator has the opportunity to "tailor the Candlelight to the particular needs of the local community." In Malaysia, for instance, the AIDS Foundation had events spread over 10 days one year.

Held in Kuala Lumpur, that Southeast Asian nation's capital, the activities included an AIDS awareness exhibition, seminars, performances by nationally famous actors and an outreach programme in the central market, "a popular youth hang-out." It culminated in a rally in Kuala Lumpur's Independence Square.

In Venezuela, on the other hand, the highlight of one year's activities was a candlelight procession with three choruses that began outside a Lutheran church and ended at a public square in Caracas, the capital of that South American nation. The event culminated with the release of balloons bearing the names of the dead.

Here in Mexico City last year, the downtown area drew crowds to participate in a march under the theme, "With the voice of life, the death silence will be broken." On that occasion, the organisers distributed information about AIDS and musicians entertained the crowds with songs that reflected the tragedy of the disease.

Africa has been the continent hardest-hit by the epidemic. In Uganda, for example, there are 1.1 million children under age 15 who have been orphaned by the disease - "a stunning 11 percent of Uganda's total child population."

Statistics in other parts of Africa are equally alarming: nine percent of Zambian children, seven percent of Zimbabwean children and six percent of Malawian children have been orphaned by AIDS.

In contrast, UNICEF declares, the orphan rate from all causes "is around one percent of children in the industrialised world."

In a UNICEF report on AIDS, Janat Mukwaya, Uganda's minister of gender, labour and social development, wrote: "Our story has been repeated across our continent. Of the 14 million people worldwide who have died of AIDS, more than 11 million have been Africans. A quarter of them have been children. Last year alone, two million men, women and children in Africa perished. We mourned our loved ones at nearly 5,500 funerals a day."

Nevertheless, not all countries plagued with AIDS have taken forceful measures to respond to the crisis. MacInnis admits that it is still a politically-sensitive issue.

In this context, the memorial acquires added importance, for it is "a nice alternative to efforts like World AIDS Day, which often becomes a time for political leadership to deliver their messages on HIV and AIDS."

The GHC seems to agree. The memorial, it declares, is a "safe" and "less controversial way" to remind the world that HIV and AIDS has not gone away, and must be addressed. It has served as "a sort of 'ice-breaker'," the group said. (END/IPS/HE/mmm/ks/00)

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