International Aids Candlelight Memorials day |19 May 2023

Spread love and solidarity to build stronger communities

Once again this year, Seychelles will join the rest of the world to celebrate International Aids Candlelight Memorials day.

The International Aids Candlelight Memorial is one of the oldest and largest grass root mobilisation campaign for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) awareness in the world. It started in 1983 and takes place every third Sunday of the month of May. It is also a day when communities stand in solidarity with those who lost their dear ones to Aids; provide a platform for advocacy and stimulate increased individual actions to fight the epidemic. It is the day when everyone is called upon to rise up to face the challenges encountered in this struggle.

Locally, to commemorate this occasion, the HIV Aids Support Organisation (Haso) in collaboration with the Grand Anse Praslin church committee, will be organising a special mass on Sunday May 21, 2023 at the parish church, starting at 8am. Other religious leaders have been requested to make a special mention in their respective churches on that day, to commemorate that event.

Haso is also appealing to communities to join the service and bring their support to all those who lost their loved ones due to Aids, and to show commitment in the struggle to eliminate new HIV infection within our society.

Seychelles has indeed made a lot of progress in responding to the burden of HIV and Aids over the last four decades. HIV and Aids continue to pose a major public health and economic challenges, threatening the attainment of our targets towards ending the epidemic, and causing lots of suffering to many families and friends who lost a close one. Last year, Seychelles recorded 27 cases of Aids-related deaths which means 27 families mourned their loved ones. These are emotional events which make it more necessary for us to take heed of this year’s theme ‘Spread Love and Solidarity to Build Stronger Communities’.

Press release from Haso