HIV/AIDS Awareness Campaign

Washington, DC—Washington, DC ranks #1 in the U.S. for cities with the highest population of residents living with HIV/AIDS. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “every 9 ½ minutes, someone’s mother, father, daughter, son, sister, brother or friend is infected with HIV/AIDS”. There are approximately 1.2 million in the U.S. living with the HIV/AIDS, and of those, 300,000 didn’t know their status or had never been tested prior to finding out their status.
African-Americans make up a little over 12 percent of the population; however, they make of 50 percent of the HIV/AIDS cases in the United States. These numbers are alarming. It is believed that the reason it’s so high in the black communities is because people have become too complacent and are not educating themselves about this virus. Research states that 1 out of 16 black men will be infected in their lifetime, along with 1 out of 30 black women.

The campaign is designed to educate communities about the virus and ways to prevent the spread of the virus. It is also designed to show those who are living with the virus ways to increase their survival methods. According to the Washington Post, President Obama began a 5 year $45 million media blitz that sparked awareness about HIV and AIDS yesterday. The President understands the criticality of educating our communities and preventing the spread of this deadly virus. In fact, he stated, that this virus is "a serious threat to the health of our nation."This campaign can only be successful if the words are spread about the communities. Everyone has to get involved to help control the spread of this virus.

To find out more information about the campaign, visit http://nineandahalfminutes.org/. Just because it’s not you today, doesn’t mean it may not be you tomorrow. Lend a helping hand, and lets strengthen our communities.