A special mass was celebrated yesterday at noon at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in solidarity with the people who are subjected to domestic violence, those who live with HIV/AIDS, their families and also those who have lost their lives as a result of violence and disease. Aids.
The event, chaired by Per David Alcindor, was attended by First Lady Linda Ramkalawan, the chief executive of the National Council for HIV/AIDS, Dr. Anne Gabriel, several officials from the Ministry of Health, Sports and Family, and was organized by the Ministry in collaboration with the National Council. for HIV/AIDS.
A good parishioner, people who work in the village, health workers and also family and friends of people living with HIV/AIDS or those who have lost a family member or friend either because of violence or AIDS, were present to attend this mass.
During the ceremony, Mrs. Ramkalawan and Dr. Anne Gabriel lit a candle in solidarity with all the people living with HIV/AIDS and also the victims of this scourge.
In a message to all people, especially those living with HIV/AIDS and their families, Dr. Anne Gabriel recalled that this year marks 35 years since the first case of HIV was reported in Seychelles in 1987, and even though it was not an adult announcement about this, people quickly knew. The first case of death was recorded in 1993.
Dr. Gabriel says that during these 35 years, Seychelles has made a lot of progress in terms of prevention and also to get people to help reduce the number of people who develop AIDS and die after being infected.
But there are still many challenges where people at risk are not coming forward to get tested and know their status and those who are already infected are stopping treatment and they are not accessing the necessary services for their well-being.
Dr. Gabriel says it is for this reason that this year the United Nations has chosen ‘Equalize’ as the theme for World HIV/AIDS Day, which falls today on the first of December. He says this is because we need to bring prevention and treatment services to everyone and not just those who come to the health center.
“We need to see other people in society who are different from us, who do not believe like us, but we need to make sure that they expect our message in a different way,” Dr. Gabriel said.
He pointed out that we need to remove the cross that is preventing people from coming forward to access services and continue their treatment and we need to feel concerned about the fate of other people because people can be infected without their fault. Last year 29 people died of AIDS and for this year so far 23 people have died of this disease. So why are the people left behind? We need to ask if in some way it is not us through our actions that are making them feel guilty and afraid to come and ask for help. So we need to stand by all those infected people and their families.
This month also coincided with the 16-day campaign against family violence, especially against women and girls, which began on November 25.
For this campaign, a senior officer in charge of the program in the family department, Natalie Didon, also had a very strong message against all forms of violence in families, especially against women, girls and children, and also a message of hope for all those violent victims.
On his side, Per Alcindor said that we all know how we can help to give hope to victims and prevent violence and also encourage those who are infected with HIV to follow treatment and live a better and longer life.
Source: Seychelles Nation