Still Living With AIDS

“Viewing AIDS quilts for most people is quite an
emotionally stirring experience,” noted Steve Waldron, network
coordinator and organizer of the event. The quilt exhibit will not only
serve to increase awareness of the disease in the Syracuse community,
but will be a tool to remind folks that there is still no cure. 

“The image and general social awareness have changed,”
said Waldron. “I think in the early 1980s there were graphic images of
people dying in ravaged states of physical deterioration. We don’t see
that now except rarely. So part of our concern is that for many people
AIDS is sort of off the radar.” 

While this is the first time the network will host the
event, it isn’t the first AIDS quilt to come to Syracuse: In 1993,
folks got to see the quilt at the old armory, now home to the Museum of
Science and Technology. Unlike then, all quilts at this year’s event
are made by local residents and mostly represent Central New Yorkers
who have died of the disease. 

Paul Carr, program specialist of Central New York
HIV/AIDS Network and co-coordinator of the event, feels the quilts will
serve as a critical reminder of the disease 15 years after the initial
exhibit. “It’s not as visible,” he noted. “I really felt like it would
be an excellent opportunity to reinforce with a visual tool.”

Improvements in medication have made HIV more of a
long-term, livable disease. Although mortality rates among AIDS
patients are down nationally, new HIV diagnoses have increased, said
Waldron. In 2006, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
estimated that there are 40,000 new cases of HIV per year in the United
States. In August 2008, after re-estimating its original count with
more sophisticated calculation methods, the CDC found the new HIV
infection rate to be closer to 56,300, 40 percent higher than the
original estimate.

County Executive Joanie Mahoney, Syracuse Mayor Matt Driscoll and Syracuse University Chancellor Nancy Cantor will speak at the exhibit’s opening ceremony at 5:30 p.m. on Dec. 1. The event
also features a field-trip program, in which schoolchildren can view
the quilts and later conduct an interview with an HIV-positive person
or representative from the program. Visitors can watch documentaries
and performances about HIV/AIDS in a media room, and a mediation room
will be available for people seeking a private, quiet environment
during the event. Information on the prevention, treatment, and support
services of HIV/AIDS will be available at display tables for visitors
to acquire.

“The most important thing is to make as many people as
possible aware that it hasn’t gone away,” noted Waldron. The event is
free, although donations are accepted. For more information, call
472-8099.  

—Alex Kish