The Key West community paused once again on Dec. 1 to honor World AIDS Day, commemorating the lives lost during the epidemic that decimated Key West’s population.
AIDS killed nearly 1,000 residents in just a few years at the height of the crisis, and continued to sicken and kill residents for more than a decade.
HIV and AIDS are now considered a chronic illness that’s manageable with treatment and medication, allowing people with HIV to live normal lives. Medical advancements also have led to preventive medication that can prevent new HIV infections.
The annual World AIDS Day ceremony takes place at the Key West AIDS Memorial, the first of its kind in the world. The memorial was built with private funds in 1997 at the foot of the Edward B. Knight Pier. The Friends of the Key West AIDS Memorial donated it to the city in 1997.
The AIDS epidemic had an outsized impact on the tiny island.
In the early days of the virus in the 1980s and early ’90s, while the global medical community struggled to understand, detect and control it, Key West buried business owners, bankers, housewives, Conchs, servicemen, athletes, artists and authors.
No segment of the community was spared, and the Key West AIDS Memorial was created to ensure the island would never forget those who fought, but lost the battle, when there was no ammunition and little information with which to arm them.
At each year’s remembrance, the 1,240 names etched in granite on the memorial are read aloud before local leaders and ministers speak of the friends they loved, the progress that’s been made and the work still being done to defeat the virus.
The worldwide theme for this year’s World AIDS Day was, “Take the rights path: My health, my right,” according to the World Health Organization.
“The world can end AIDS – if everyone’s rights are protected,” the WHO website states. “With human rights at the center, with communities in the lead, the world can end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. WHO is calling on global leaders and citizens to champion the right to health by addressing the inequalities that hinder progress in ending AIDS.”
