As World AIDS Day nears on Dec. 1, and the community remembers those in San Diego County affected by HIV/AIDS, community leaders discuss the successes and challenges in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

In contrast to San Francisco, which lost funding, San Diego County received an $8,000 increase in Ryan White CARE funding, said Terry Cunningham, chief of the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency’s HIV, STD and Hepatitis Branch. This year, San Diego County will receive $1.9 million. Ryan White CARE funding provides funds to more than 2,500 organizations that serve people living with HIV/AIDS nationwide.

“Our large geographic area, with so many different cultures and languages including being right near the border…and people living with AIDS/HIV in the area from beginning of the epidemic to the present among other factors…put us in a good position to receive more funding,” said Cunningham.

“But there’s a lot more work that needs to be done.”

According to the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, 2007 HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Report, in 2006, 319 new AIDS cases were reported for San Diego County, while 1,311 new HIV cases were reported for the county in 2006. There are probably more HIV cases for 2006, however, because the survey only collected HIV case data from April to December 2006.

Many San Diegans with HIV/AIDS do not seek medical care however.

In a 2006 Consumer Needs Assessment produced by the San Diego HIV Health Services Planning Council, of which more than half of the respondents were gay or lesbian, 23 percent of respondents said they did not seek HIV medical care because they were afraid of people finding out about their HIV status; 13 percent said they didn’t know where to find services, and 14 percent said they didn’t think they were even eligible.

In addition, while San Diego has seen a “general decrease” in the number of AIDS cases since 2002, the number of AIDS cases has increased for many people of color, said Samantha Tweeten, epidemiologist with the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency Public Health Services.

However, while challenges abound, people have been helped.

San Diegan Gary Herrington, for example, has, for eight years, been receiving meals from Special Delivery, a local non-profit that provides meals to people with HIV/AIDS. Diagnosed in 1989 with HIV, Herrington was relatively fine until 10 years ago, when he became too sick to continue working and went on disability.

“Special Delivery has been excellent in keeping me healthy with the quality of food that they serve,” said Herrington. “After I quit work, I dropped down to a very low income and being on disability and so it was pretty hard to go to the grocery store. Special Delivery has really been a life saver in that way.”

In observance of people affected by the virus/disease, Mama’s Kitchen and The University of California, San Diego will host several World AIDS Day events.

Mama’s Kitchen, a recipient of Ryan White funding, will host its annual Tree of Life Lighting Ceremony at the Village Hillcrest Retail Center on Fifth Avenue between University Avenue and Washington Street. Saturday, Dec. 1, at 6 p.m.

“It’s a community gathering to honor people that we have lost to AIDS and those people who are still fighting it,” said Jennifer Brown, development coordinator for Mama’s Kitchen.

Mayor Jerry Sanders, Chair of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors Ron Roberts, and Senator Christine Kehoe will be speaking at the event followed by a lighting of a tree. Attendees decorate the tree with personalized, commemorative ornaments, which Mama’s Kitchen sells, to raise funds for those affected by the disease.

Last year 200 people attended the ceremony, and the same number is expected this year, said Brown. Every year, Mama’s Kitchen raises around $20,000 from the event.

“The Tree of Life serves a few purposes,” said Alberto Cortés, Mama’s Kitchen executive director. “It provides an opportunity to remember people that have died as a result of AIDS, as well as a chance to celebrate the lives of those who still live with the disease and the challenges that come with it.

“Because of the commitment of everyone, everyone at Mama’s Kitchen – the staff, the board members, the volunteers, hundreds of individuals and families in San Diego are able to focus on maintaining their health rather than worrying about where and when their next meal will arrive,” said Kehoe at last year’s ceremony.

On Friday, Nov. 30, the University of California, San Diego has planned its observance of World AIDS Day with a number of events including a public viewing of portions of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, a morning vigil, a panel discussion on those living with HIV, a short documentary and discussion on HIV/AIDS in the Native American community, free public oral swab HIV testing and counseling, and a wall of remembrance dedicated to those who have died from the disease.

“The UCSD display consists of three sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt [initiated in 1987] that have emerged as San Diego organizations and individuals responded to the AIDS crisis, both in the early years of the epidemic and through the present day….Virtually every one of the more than 40,000 colorful panels that make up the entire Quilt memorializes the life of a person lost to AIDS,” said Pat JaCoby from the UCSD News Center.