Staff members from the Huron County Health Unit spent part of Friday morning decorating the main street of Seaforth with red scarves to celebrate AIDS Awareness Week
Public Health Nurse Kate Underwood explains their goal is to start conversations about the progress that's been made in the treatment and prevention of AIDS.
Underwood says in past years they've hung scarves in Goderich, Wingham, Clinton and Exeter and this fifth year was in Seaforth. She explains the red scarf is an enlarged version of the red ribbon, the international symbol for AIDS awareness and the red scarves represent the positive advancements that have been made in HIV treatment and prevention as well as help to address the stigma that's still associated with HIV.
Underwood added, “So the red scarves are free for anybody to take for themselves or they can take one to pass to somebody else. We just want you to take the scarf to keep that conversation going and promote the messaging that we're providing.”
She said, “I think the biggest thing for us is that even in the last five years there have been so many positive advancements in HIV, to the point that if a person is on their HIV treatment medication, uses it consistently and correctly, the viral load is actually so low in their body they can't transmit HIV.”
