World AIDS Day

World AIDS Day, designated on 1 December every year since 1988, is an international day dedicated to raising awarenes sof the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease. Government and health officials, non-governmental organizations, and individuals around the world observe the day, often with education on AIDS preventionand control. World AIDS Day is one of the eight official global public healthcampaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO). And despite all these efforts, the topic is still not fully understood. Questions like: are AIDS and HIV the same thing? Can u die from HIV? And does everybody who has HIV also gets AIDS? are unanswerable for a lot of people.

That's why we decide to answer this and other questions about this fatal disease also on another day the 5th of December. At the event called "International AIDS Evening". In terms of content, it was mainly about two things: on the one hand a lecture and on the other hand the screening of a film. The lecture was given by the DrogArt expert Simon Kovačič.

Over the course of the lecture, in addition to the questions already mentioned above, he also explained the differences between AIDS and HIV, the course of the disease, the treatment, the prevention and, of course, the progress made in the fight against AIDS over the last three decades. In keeping with the progress made in the fight against the disease, he has also been informing new medicines with the potential to drastically reduce the number of new infections. Furthermore, much in of material and safersex producte were provided by DrogArt for free. Next to the lecture, the film "120 BPM" (Originaltitel 120 battements par minute) was the focal point of the event.

The movie takes place In the early 1990s, where a group of HIV/AIDS activists associated with the Paris chapter of ACT UP struggle to effect action to fight the AIDS epidemic. When the pharmaceutical company Melton Pharm announces its plans to reveal its HIV trial results at a prominent pharmaceutical conference the following year, ACT UP invades its offices with fake blood and demands it release its trial results immediately. While ACT UP makes some headway with its public protests, its members fiercely debate the group's strategy, with conflicting goals of showmanship and persuasion, with conflicting aesthetics of positivity and misery.

The film gradually shifts from the political storyline of ACT UP's actions to the personal stories of ACT UP members. Foreshadowing later events in the movie, Jeremie, an AIDS positive youth in the group sees his health deteriorate rapidly. A gay, HIV-negative newcomer, Nathan, begins to fall in love with the passionate HIV-positive veteran Sean. Nathan and Sean start a sexual relationship, but Sean is already exhibiting signs of the disease's progression. Nathan cares for Sean as they both discuss their sexual histories. When Sean is released to Nathan's apartment for hospice, Nathan euthanizes him.

After the screening we had a discussion about the movie and lecture held by Simon Kovačič.

Povezava do intervjuja s Simonom Kovačičem iz DrogArta. / Link to the interview with Simon Kovačič from DrogArt.

Lucas nad Gilles