VIGIL
Carlos Javier Sanchez â Sun-News
Pastor Linda Mervine leads the International AIDS Candlelight memorial on Sunday may 18th at Young Park in Las Cruces. The Las Cruces community joined the New Mexico Department of Health, the Southwest Action Group, guest speakers, and performers at the event, coordinated worldwide by the Global Network of People living with HIV. Featured speakers included Travis Leyva, Department of Health Community Collaborative Care Program Director.
As of 2012, four hundred seventy two people in southwest New Mexico are living with HIV/AIDS. Statewide, there are about 2,900 people with HIV/AIDS. The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone between the ages of 13 to 64 be tested for HIV at least once.