Access Health and National AIDS Memorial Partner Together to Bring Sections of the AIDS Memorial Quilt to New Orleans for World AIDS Day

Quilt panels to be displayed at City Hall to commemorate lives lost to AIDS since first cases reported 40 years ago 

NEW ORLEANS (DATE) — Access Health Louisiana (AHL) and the National AIDS Memorial are partnering together to bring two panels of the AIDS Memorial Quilt (the Quilt) to New Orleans as part of World AIDS Day observances Dec.1.

The quilt panels will be revealed following a news conference with AHL Chief Executive Officer Mark Keiser and City of New Orleans Health Director, Dr. Jennifer Avegno Wednesday, Dec. 1 at noon. The Quilt will be on display at City Hall immediately following the news conference through March 1, 2022.

“We are honored to work together with the National AIDS Memorial to bring the Quilt to our community this World AIDS Day and share its stories of hope, activism, healing and remembrance,” said AHL Medical Director of Infectious Diseases and Chief Innovation Office, Dr. MarkAlain Déry. “The Quilt sections on display connect the story of AIDS directly to the work we do to provide services, educate and raise greater awareness about HIV today. The Quilt offers important reflection about the tremendous loss of life, allowing us to remember those we’ve lost, ensure their lives are never forgotten and provide hope for the future.”

This year marks 40 years since the first cases of AIDS were reported in the United States. During the four-decade span, more than 700,000 lives have been lost in this country to HIV/AIDS. While there is still no cure for HIV, advances in treatment all ow people living with HIV to live long, healthy lives. Across the United States, new HIV diagnoses are delivered every day, particularly among young people, communities of color and southern states. In Orleans Parish there are 5,096 known cases of persons living with HIV (EMA data from the City of New Orleans for 2020). Efforts are still needed to raise greater awareness about the story of AIDS and prevention, treatments and resources available within the community.

“The issues our nation has faced in the past two years - a raging pandemic with hundreds of thousands of lives lost, social injustice, health inequity, stigma, bigotry and fear - are also the issues faced throughout four decades of the AIDS pandemic,” says John Cunningham, CEO of the National AIDS Memorial. “The Quilt is a powerful teaching tool that shares the story of HIV/AIDS, the lives lost and the hope, healing, activism and remembrance that it inspires.”

In addition to the Quilt display, the Office of Health Policy and AIDS Funding will host a Wreath Laying Ceremony in Washington Square Park at the site of the HIV/AIDS monument. The ceremony will take place Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. to recognize those living with HIV and pay respect to those who lost their lives to AIDS-related complications. The ceremony may also be viewed virtually here.

AHL is a network of Federally Qualified Health Centers with more than 100 providers across 12 parishes in Louisiana. Dr. MarkAlain Déry specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of HIV/AIDS at the AHL Pythian Clinic in New Orleans. Earlier this year AHL partnered with NoiseFilter — an educational platform that addresses health and wellness topics through creative storytelling — and the AIDS Education Training Center to announce a new animation trilogy that conveys crucial health messaging around HIV and HIV medications. The three-part series, Undetectable, Untransmittable and Undeniably Fierce!, Get in Step with PrEP and Little Miss Muffuletta also feature community health expert Dr. Eric Griggs (Doc Griggs) and trans activist and educator, Milan Nicole Sherry.

“Our goal is to change the stigma that still remains around HIV,” says Dr. Déry. “The colorful and compelling videos use creative exploration into the human body to explain HIV medications and how they protect individuals from transmission.” 

The three-part series is available for viewing on the NoiseFilter website and is intended for use by all audiences to educate about the use of HIV treatments and preventatives and lift the voice of people of trans experience.

For more information about Access Health Louisiana and the additional services available including STI testing, telemedicine and teletherapy, visit accesshealthla.org. The Quilt was created nearly 35 years ago during the darkest days of the AIDS pandemic by gay rights activist Cleve Jones. For more information or to view the Quilt in its entirety visit aidsmemorial.org/quilt.