Calgary marks 30th World AIDS Day, but activists say there's still a lot of work to do

It's been 30 years since the first-ever World AIDS Day, and activists in Calgary say it's remarkable how far the world has come, but there's still a lot of work to do

World AIDS Day was established at the height of the AIDS crisis to create awareness around HIV/AIDS, promote potential cures, and remember lives lost.

Gerry McConnery remembers the early days. The Calgary man has been living with HIV for 30 years. Hesaid he still thinks back to a month in the early 90s, where he attended eight funerals for friends who died of the disease.

"I'm really proud of where we are, but the stigma of people with HIV and AIDS is just amazing still today," he said."The fear is kind of disappearing, but the stigma and discrimination is still there."

McConnery was one of about 100 people at the Word AIDS Dayevent on Friday, hosted by Calgary's HIV Community Link. He said it's been interesting to see how the community has changed over the years.

"The social aspect of it is totally different today than it was 20 years ago. Now we're so diverse it used to be 80 per cent gay men with a little sprinkling of people who use drugs and a few heterosexual women and men," he said.

"Alot of people in that room that are HIV positive didn't see those beginning times when we were losing all of these people, so they don't have the same perspective thatwe do today."

Recent advancements in treatment areone thing they celebrate every year, said Leslie Hill, executive director ofCalgary's HIV Community Link.

"The medications have improved so much that you can get to the point now where,if you're taking your medication regularly, the viral load in your body is undetectable. Andwhen you're undetectable, then your risk of transmitting to a partner is negligible," she said.

The Alberta government announced in September it would provide universal coverage for PrEP an HIV-prevention drug that is up to 99 per cent effective at stopping transmission of the disease.

Hill called the PrEP funding a "huge game-changer" for the community.

"I'm hoping what weseein 10 years is potentially that transmission of HIV in Canada has reduced to almost nothing and that people all have access to the treatments that they need. And that people are living long and healthy full lives," she said.

According to the Public Health Agency of Canada, more than 63,000 people were HIV-positive in 2016, but the advancements inmedication mean the disease is more manageable and people are able to liverelatively normal lives.

McConnery said he worries the longer life expectancy with the disease could mean people stop being vigilant when it comes to prevention.

"We're not dying at the same rate anymore, so there's not that fear," McConnery said. "I have a fear people aren't going to use protection. And I just look at the numbers of people living with HIV it just keeps going up and up."

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