Registration was underway Tuesday for the 42nd annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles, which will return to West Hollywood Park on Oct. 18 to raise money for HIV-related health care and support services.
The event will begin at 10:30 a.m. and feature a two-mile walk through West Hollywood’s Rainbow District.
This year’s theme is “Defend Care, Demand Action,” focusing on access to HIV prevention and treatment, according to organizers.
The opening ceremony will feature live music, remarks from activists and booths operated by community organizations before participants begin the walk.
Last year’s AIDS Walk Los Angeles raised $1.05 million, according to APLA Health, which is presenting the event.
Organizers said advances including pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, and long-acting injectable medications have improved HIV prevention, while modern treatments can reduce the amount of HIV in the blood to undetectable levels.
APLA Health CEO Craig E. Thompson said access to HIV prevention and treatment remains a concern for the organization.
“The biggest risk to decades of progress is the assumption that the work is finished,” he said. “The medicine works. The real question is who can get it. For people with means, HIV is easily managed. For those who are low-income, uninsured, or pushed to the margins, it remains a crisis.”
“We refuse to accept a system where staying healthy depends on your income or ZIP code. That’s what this year’s Walk is about,” Thompson added.
APLA Health, formerly AIDS Project Los Angeles, provides health care and support services to more than 23,000 people annually through eight federally qualified health centers in Los Angeles County, according to the organization.
Registration is open at aidswalkla.org.