36th Montréal World AIDS Day Vigil - Communities coming together for mutual support and care

MONTRÉAL, Dec. 1, 2024 /CNW/ - La Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le VIH/sida (TOMS) invites everyone to mark the 36^th Montréal World AIDS Day Vigil, to be held on December 1^st, 2024, at Parc de l'Espoir. This year, there will be two occasions for commemoration, at 2pm and at 5pm.

For this 36^th edition, our communities are rallying around community care and mutual support to strengthen our social safety net, break isolation and improve the quality of life of people living with HIV.

The theme of community care emerges from past struggles, for which we have too often been left to fend for ourselves; this year's theme shows the strengths of our movement and the power of what we can do when we come together around a common cause.

We cannot, however, overlook the disparities experienced by people living with HIV and all the communities affected by the epidemic. Even now, in Montréal, there are glaring disparities in access to healthcare depending on the borough people live in: unequal access to community and clinical/lab testing, lack of harm reduction materials, and the prohibitive costs of antiretroviral treatment overall (including PrEP), all necessary elements to improve our communities' quality of life.

This World AIDS Day Vigil is a call to strengthen our social safety net: our communities need health professionals and first responders (i.e. firefighters, police officers, ambulance attendants, general first aid) who are trained on and understand their realities, in order to provide a higher quality of care. We call on all levels of government to contribute to building capacity in this sector, which after 40 years of experience, knows what is needed on the front lines. Our organizations require a core-mission funding increase in order for all of the organizations  in our sector to be better equipped to support the communities we serve.

Let's come together this December 1^st to change the way HIV is treated in both the public and private spheres, and to build a world grounded in community care, through shared respect, where everyone can live positively!

About the TOMS:

The mission of the Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le VIH/sida (TOMS) is to support, advocate for, and promote the activities of our members and the communities they represent. The TOMS is composed of 31 community organizations working in HIV and STBBI prevention that facilitate health and well-being of people living with HIV and other STBBIs by providing housing or other services, including supporting the people close to them.

Facebook event link: https://www.facebook.com/share/sLZZL8bjki8Eayta/

Find us online:
Website: http://toms-mtl.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/toms.mtl

SOURCE Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le VIH/sida (TOMS)

Media contact: Léo MARY, Communications Coordinator, Table des organismes communautaires montréalais de lutte contre le sida (TOMS), Email: [email protected], Telephone: [phone]