Chicago Commemorates World AIDS Day With Events Around City

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Sunday marks World AIDS Day – a time to promote understanding of HIV/AIDS, and the medical, social and political challenges of the disease.

A total of 1.1 million people in the U.S. and 38 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS.

Numerous events were held on Saturday and Sunday for World AIDS Day, and more events are planned throughout the area in the next few days:

• On Monday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago is holding a World AIDS Day event in its lobby at 845 S. Damen Ave. Organizers will sell ribbons with proceeds going to UIC Community Clinic Network HIV Clinics, and hand out resources about HIV testing, treatment, and prevention. Visitors can also sign a World AIDS Day ribbon that will be posted in the college throughout the month.

• On Monday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the AIDS resource center Care2Prevent is hosting a World AIDS Day event for people 24 and under at the youth center Ignite, 5500 S. Indiana Ave. It will offer free HIV and STI testing, sexual health workshops, activities, raffle prizes, and dessert.

• On Monday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., the Chicago Department of Public Health will present "2019 World AIDS Day: A Celebration of Communities and Collaboration," at the Harold Washington Library Center, 400 S. State St. The event is open to the general public and, as the department puts it, "honors our past, present, and future as we move forward with a new HIV services portfolio."

• On Tuesday between 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., the Bonaventure House transitional living program presents a World AIDS Day showcase of storytelling, music, and poetry. It will be held at the Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St.

• On Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., a World AIDS Day screening of the film "How to Survive a Plague" will be held at the Harold Washington Library, 400 S. State St. The documentary features film from the 1980s and is described as "a visual document of the first fighters against what would soon be a worldwide epidemic."

• On Wednesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the AIDS Healthcare Foundation will hold a World AIDS Day commemoration event with performances by the Opal Staples Orchestra and Manon Voice. The event will be held at the Bracket Room, 1315 S. Halsted St.

• On Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., the annual World of Chocolate World AIDS Day event will be held at Revel Fulton Market, 1215 W. Fulton Market. The event benefits the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

On Friday from 6 p.m. to 1 p.m., the LGBTQ-based community service organization Better2Gether is hosting the "Lip-Ology" World AIDS Day event at Howard Brown Health 55th St., 1525 E. 55th St. Participants will take part in lip-sync performances, as the event honors "the trail blazers who have worked and/or fought in the field of HIV/AIDS."