Caring by candlelight at Aids Memorial

JOHN HAWKINS/The Southland Times

CARING BY CANDLELIGHT: Shona Fordyce at the Aids Candlelight Memorial on Bluff Hill. Fifteen people gathered in the fog and rain to remember those who have lost their lives to Aids.

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Small lights flickered in the fog last night as 15 people gathered on Bluff Hill to mark the 27th International Aids Candlelight Memorial.

The Southern District Health Board clinical nurse specialist for sexual health services, Shona Fordyce, told those gathered in the cold and rain that HIV/Aids was still happening in New Zealand.

"We ask why. Well, people continue to have multiple partners and practise unsafely," she said.

"We are here to remember those infected and affected by this virus."

Last year there were 151 people newly diagnosed with HIV in New Zealand.

"Medications have changed over the last 27 years, but the three methods of transmission have not," Ms Fordyce told the group.

Blood and bodily fluids, unprotected sex and mother-to-child transmission were the three ways HIV is spread. Despite billions of dollars being spent, a vaccine had still not been found, she said.

Knowledge was most important, with red ribbons on the street on World Aids Day in November each year to increase public awareness of HIV and Aids.

The purpose of the ribbons was not to make money, she said, but to educate and make people aware.

Another person at the candlelight memorial said some people were too scared to attend the event.

Ms Fordyce said she was pleased to see new faces last night.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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