CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, Sports'Rent' cast raising AIDS awareness, education in the Lowcountry

'Rent' cast raising AIDS awareness, education in the Lowcountry

By Nicole Johnson  bio | email | Twitter

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - It's a top killer of women across the world. More than 15 million women now have HIV or AIDS. The World Health Organization says those rates have jumped significantly in the last two decades.

On World Aids Day, the Lowcountry Aids Services hosted a health fair at Marion Square, with information tables and free testing by the state health department.

To raise awareness, cast members of the musical "Rent" sang the song "Seasons of Love," a story of a group of friends dealing with life and loss from AIDS. "I think half the characters are inflicted with AIDS, and it deals with how AIDS kind of changes the way you can live your life," performer Brett Travis said.

The performance also raised awareness of the Ryan White Program for AIDS patients at Roper Saint Francis healthcare.

Advocates say 15,000 people are infected with HIV or AIDS in the state, and South Carolina ranks eighth nationwide in number of HIV and AIDS cases.

The virus attacks a person's immune system, and it may or may not develop into AIDS and have deadly consequences. "Once somebody has a T-cell count level of 200 or below, their immune system is very suppressed. Then they've reached that AIDS diagnosis,"  Ryan White Program director Ashley Redmond said.

HIV is most commonly passed through unprotected sex, sharing infected needles, or from HIV positive mothers to babies, according to worldaidsday.org.

At present there is no cure, but medical experts say daily treatment can help keep the immune system as healthy as possible. "By taking their medications as prescribed and washing their hands and maintaining a healthy lifestyle," Redmond said.

And above all, one of the best defenses is educating yourself and others, as performers with "Rent" have done. "Education is going to fuel people to make the right choices, to get tested, live healthy lifestyles," performer Kendra Payne said.

Part of the proceeds from the Jan. 21 opening night of "Rent" at Charleston Music Hall will benefit the Roper Saint Francis Ryan White program. The program serves more than 400 HIV or AIDS patients. That number has doubled in the last year.

Charleston's World AIDS Day ceremonies wrapped up with a candlelight march from Marion Square to Addlestone Library on Calhoun Street.

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