AIDS PEI at 25: Celebrating improvements, changing for future

AIDS PEI is marking it's 25th anniversary this month with a series of events tocelebrate how far ithas come in that time, including concerts and fundraising activities.

Bobbie Smith was there when the organization started, an infection control officer at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Back then, Smith said having the disease was considered a death sentence, plus Islanders with AIDS faced other difficulties.

"It was a time that everybody was so afraid, a majority of our clients came home from away, and since they had to leave the Island to be comfortable," she said. "And their families, some of them, the families were still ostracizing them."

Cybelle Rieber, the current program manager for AIDS PEI, said much has improved since, including an anti-retroviral therapy for people with HIV/AIDS. But there is still work to be done, she added.

"The stigma attached to HIV still very much exists," said Rieber. "Bobbie was telling me about someone coming in and telling them that their doctor wouldn't touch them. And I've talked to people living with HIV now who say, you know, when I hug them, they say 'I haven't been hugged in so long.'"

New focus

AIDS PEI is now shifting its focus, taking a holistic approach to risk reduction, prevention and support for all sexually transmitted and blood-born infections.

To mark the anniversary, the group has come up with what they are calling a long weekend of initiatives, starting on Thursday, Sept. 22 with a fundraising concert at the Trailside Cafe with Emilee Sorrey.

On Saturday, Sept. 24, they will becollecting gently used goods in partnership with Value Village, and on Sunday, there's a big concert and silent auction at the Guild in Charlottetown featuring Rachel Beck, Dennis Ellsworth, and Tim Chaisson.

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