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World AIDS Day marked in Monaco

Dec 03, 2018
On December 1, on the occasion of World AIDS Day, Her Most Serene Highness Princess Stéphanie presented nine quilts paying tribute to victims of the disease at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco. The event was inspired by the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a monumental 54-ton quilt bearing the names of victims that was conceived in San Francisco in 1985.

Princess Stéphanie is the Founding President of Fight AIDS Monaco. The Stavros Niarchos Foundation (SNF) has provided support to Fight Aids Monaco, most recently through a grant to its La Maison de Vie holiday retreat center. SNF supports organizations around the world in their work to fight the global AIDS epidemic, including AIDS Community Research Initiative of America, the Greek Association of People Living with HIV—Positive Voice, Born Free Africa, and the Population Council, among others.

In November, the AIDES network inaugurated a new space in Nice dedicated to prevention, screening, and early treatment of HIV/AIDS with support from SNF. The network aims to end HIV transmission by 2040, and community-focused spaces like “Le Spot” Nice that can provide safe, local spaces for awareness efforts and medical care are central to achieving this goal. The area around Nice is one of the hardest hit in France, but there’s encouraging evidence that localized, on-the-ground efforts are having a positive impact. COREVIH Parca-Est, which partnered in the creation of Le Spot Nice, reported on World AIDS Day a 40% decrease in the number of new HIV infections treated in the Alps-Maritimes region over the past year.

The event at the Oceanographic Museum was also attended by Monaco mayor Mr. George Marsan, Minister of Social Affairs and Health Mr. Didier Gamerdinger, and representatives of SNF.