Organizers Asking For Help In Raising Fund, Awareness For HIV/AIDS
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Organizers of the upcoming Aids-Walk-Philly event are asking for your support in raising funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS.
The fight against HIV/AIDS has come along way since the epidemic in the early 80's.
"[In] the first reported cases they didn't know what [was] causing it, they did know it was a virus and so they actually referred to it in the first newspaper reports as a gay cancer," says Robb Reichard, executive director of AIDS Fund.
He says those infected with the virus are living longer thanks to advancements in treatments, but, he says, there is an overall public complacency with the disease and that's a problem.
'There is not the sense of urgency and that impacts a lot of things. It impacts donations from the general public, it impacts funding from the government. It impacts people's behavior and there is just an overall complacency and we think that this epidemic is over. We need to keep up the fight," Reichard explains.
AIDS Fund says there are 30,000 people living with HIV in the Philadelphia region.
The public is being asked to help raise funds and awareness for HIV/AIDS and participate in the 26th Annual AIDS Walk Philly on October 21st. More information at aidswalkphilly.org.
