Wish Lantern Festival: A Depiction of Solidarity and Community Action in the Fight Against HIV/AIDS
By Alexandra Tom
This submission is part of a series by McGill students who were in the Fall 2024 course, Fundamentals of Global Health.
A single lantern flickers softly, but together their light pushes back the darkness as the first hints of dawn whisper of hope, undimmed by the trials of the night.
The Wish Lantern Festival, depicted above, is a symbol of hope, peace, and safety. Inspired by this festival, my art symbolizes the power of community-driven efforts to combat HIV/AIDS and instills hope in global health. In the center, the lanterns come together to form a red ribbon, the symbol of HIV/AIDS solidarity. Diverse cultural backgrounds are represented among those releasing the lanterns, illustrating the universality of community and the various community-led initiatives at the core of the worldwide HIV/AIDS response.
Communities have a unique ability to understand local needs and connect people with essential HIV services. They have driven transformative change in the global HIV response by advocating for policy reforms, improving accessibility of services, addressing legal barriers, and empowering marginalized groups (1). For example:
In Côte d’Ivoire, community-led advocacy led to the removal of user fees from HIV testing and treatment services (1).
In Lusaka, Zambia, the Circle of Hope developed the community post model, bringing HIV services closer to where people live (1).
In the Cook Islands, advocacy by Pride Cook Islands (PCI) and Te Tiare led to the removal of laws criminalizing consensual sex between men (2).
In Latin America and the Caribbean, the "Soy Clave" initiative provides grants to community-led organizations, facilitating the delivery of over 270 community solutions and reaching over 700,000 people as of 2021 (3).
In Thailand, the “Tangerine” Community Health Clinic uses transgender social media influencers to reach marginalized groups, increasing HIV testing rates and improving access to HIV prevention and care (4).
In the Middle East and North Africa, MENA Rosa raises awareness about HIV care, treatment, support, prevention, and quality of life for women and girls (5).
In South Africa, the Treatment Action Campaign advocacy led the government to make generic antiretroviral alternatives available, lowering medicine costs, and making HIV treatment more accessible (6).
References
UNAIDS. (2023). Let communities lead: World AIDS Day report 2023. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS. https://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/2023WADreport_en.pdf
UNAIDS. (2023, April 27). Cook islands’ original path toward equality. UNAIDS. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2023/april/20230427_cook-islands-original-path-toward-equality
UNAIDS. (2021, September 15). Community-led projects reach vulnerable populations in Latin America and the Caribbean. UNAIDS. https://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/featurestories/2021/september/20210915_community-led-projects-latin-america-caribbean
Yang, F., Janamnuaysook, R., Boyd, M. A., Phanuphak, N., & Tucker, J. D. (2020). Key populations and power: People-centred social innovation in Asian HIV Services. The Lancet HIV, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/s2352-3018(19)30347-9
Who we are. MENA Rosa. (n.d.). https://menarosa.org/who-we-are-english/
United Nations Development Programme. (n.d.). The TRIPS Agreement and Access to ARVs. United Nations Development Programme. https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/publications/5.pdf
Alexandra Tom
is an artist and a fourth-year Anatomy and Cell Biology student at McGill University. Her research background includes comparative anatomy and the application of AI in cancer treatment. She aims to contribute to both the medical and global health fields, and use art to inspire others and spark meaningful conversations.