Red ribbon to adorn Sydney Town Hall for World AIDS Day

A GIANT red ribbon will be projected on to Sydney Town Hall on December 1 to mark World AIDS Day.

The image of a red ribbon, organised by City of Sydney, will be lit onto the building’s facade from sunset.

The day aims to raise greater awareness of HIV and AIDS, to promote safe sex practices to reduce HIV transmission, and to combat HIV stigma and discrimination.

More than 1200 new diagnoses of HIV were recorded in Australia in 2013.

“Despite many years of progress, our community is still dealing with the heavy toll HIV and AIDS can take,” Lord Mayer Clover Moore said in a press release.

“This year’s World AIDS Day theme is ‘Getting to Zero’ and we know eliminating new HIV and AIDS infections in NSW is possible if the right actions are taken.

“This includes encouraging people to get tested regularly and treated early.”

Sydneysiders can show their support by purchasing red ribbons in the days leading up to and on December 1.

There will also be other events in support of the World AIDS Day. Highlights include:

• Darling Park will be awash in red as thousands of red ribbons decorate the precinct’s courtyards and volunteers from some of Australia’s largest corporations sell red ribbon pins. A lunchtime barbecue hosted by SBS’s Ricardo Goncalves will feature special guests, including Sydney state independent MP Alex Greenwich. Friday, November 28, 12-2pm.
• A free rapid HIV testing service will operate in a pop-up clinic at Taylor Square, 3.30pm–6.30pm, November 28 and December 1.
• A stall will be hosted by the Kirketon Road Centre, a satellite facility of Sydney Hospital that focuses on HIV and AIDS service provision. December 1 at Springfield Mall, Kings Cross, 11.30am-2.30pm.
• A stall will be hosted by the NSW Health Sexually Transmitted Infections Programs Unit at Sydney Hospital’s Il Porcellino statue, Macquarie St, 9.30am-3pm, December 1.
• A stall and the launch of rapid testing service at Ankali House, corner of Albion and Crown streets, 8am-2pm, December 1.
• A slideshow featuring images of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, a sewing project that was started in the 1980s. The 47,000-panel quilt commemorates the names of more than 94,000 people who have died of AIDS-related illness. It will showcase in the Newtown and Surry Hills libraries during AIDS Awareness Week, which ends on December 1.