(Las Cruces) – The New Mexico Department of Health joins the Southwest Action Group (SWAG) to participate in the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial, Saturday May 16th from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at First Christian Church, 1809 El Paseo Rd. in Las Cruces, NM. The event is free and open to the public.
The community is invited to join guest speakers, performers and more at the event, coordinated worldwide by the Global Network of People living with HIV. Featured speakers include Isabel Casaus, who lost her brother to AIDS and Las Cruces City Counselor Olga Pedroza.
The Department of Health’s Office of Border Health will also be in attendance with representatives from its bi-national coalition on HIV/AIDS.
According to the most recent available state data, 166 people in southwest New Mexico are living with HIV/AIDS. Statewide, there are about 2,900 people with HIV/AIDS. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 and 64 be tested for HIV at least once.
SWAG is an inter-agency collaborative composed of NM Department of Health, Alianza of NM, Families & Youth Inc, and International AIDS Empowerment that meets regularly to coordinate HIV/STD prevention efforts for Las Cruces and the southwest region of New Mexico. The Global Network of People living with HIV is one of the world’s oldest and largest grassroots mobilization campaigns for HIV awareness in the world.
Started in 1983, the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial takes place every third Sunday in May and is led by a coalition of some 1,200 community organizations in 115 countries.
Information from NM DOH