NATIONAL BLACK HIV AIDS AWARENESS DAY FEBRUARY 7, 2011

 February 7, 2011, marks the 11th annual observance of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), a day dedicated to the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the African American community. This year's theme is "It takes a village to fight HIV/AIDS!"

NBHAAD is a national HIV/AIDS testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at black communities. It is directed, planned, and organized by a working group of national organizations in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

HIV & AIDS IN AFRICAN AMERICANS

Blacks make up approximately 12 percent of the U.S. population. However, at the end of 2007, blacks accounted for almost half (46%) of people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 37 states and 5 U.S. dependent areas with long-term, confidential, name-based HIV reporting.

• In 2006, blacks accounted for nearly half (45%) of new infections in the 50 states and the District of Columbia.
• Even though new HIV infections among blacks overall have been roughly stable since the early 1990s, compared with members of other races and ethnicities they continue to account for a higher proportion of cases at all stages of HIV—from new infections to deaths. For example, in 2006, the rate of new HIV infection for black women was nearly 15 times as high as that of white women and nearly 4 times that of Hispanic/Latina women.
• In 2006, black men accounted for two-thirds of new infections (65%) among all blacks. Black men who have sex with men (MSM) represented 63% of new infections among all black men, and 35% among all MSM.

Data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Fact Sheet: HIV/AIDS among African Americans. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; 2010 [cited 2011 Jan 19]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/aa/resources/factsheets/aa.htm.

TAKE ACTION

1. Distribute posters, fact sheets, and other materials in clinics and community centers and at events.
• Download posters, postcards, fact sheets, and other materials.
2. Plan or participate in an HIV awareness and testing event. Collective action by everyone affected or infected by HIV is one of our most powerful weapons against this epidemic.
• Submit an event registration form.
• Find an event near you.
3. Spread the message through the media and online.
• Follow NBHAAD on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn and share their postings and tweets.
• Run the Public Service Announcements on TV or online.
• Join in the Greater Than AIDS public information campaign, organized by the Black AIDS Media Partnership as part of CDC's Act Against AIDS campaign to refocus national attention on the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States.
• Participate in the I know campaign which encourages young African Americans to talk about HIV and what can be done to prevent it.