Browsing Category: HIV/AIDS Awareness Days
Día Nacional Latino para la Concientización del SIDA (NLAAD): Una perspectiva desde Puerto Rico
by Peter M. Shepard Rivas, MS
Coaí, Inc
La epidemia del VIH es una seria amenaza de salud pública para la comunidad hispana o latina. Los latinos representaron, al 2009, el 20% (9,400) de las nuevas infecciones de VIH (incluidos los residentes de Puerto Rico), siendo a su vez el 16% de la población total de los Estados Unidos (CDC HIV/AIDS among Hispanics/Latinos Fact Sheet, Revised 11/2011). En términos de las estadísticas de Estados Unidos y sus territorios, Puerto Rico se encuentra entre los primeros lugares de incidencia y prevalencia de sida en adultos.
Según el resumen de la epidemia del VIH en Puerto Rico de la Oficina de Epidermiología e Investigación de Vigilancia SIDA, Departamento de Salud de Puerto Rico cada día son diagnosticadas 3 personas en la isla (11/2009) con un promedio de 1,116 casos reportados anualmente. Basado en la data del Departamento de Salud y la División de Vigilancia SIDA al 31 de enero de 2012, en Puerto Rico hay reportado 35,080 casos acumulados de SIDA y 8,961 casos diagnosticados de VIH desde junio de 2003. En términos de la población objetivo de nuestro programa, los casos acumulativos de sida diagnosticados al 30/09/12 en adultos y adolescentes por conducta de riesgo la de Hombres que tienen Sexo con Hombres (HSH) representan el 17% (N=34,696), siendo la segunda categoría por género (UDI Hombres – 39%; Heterosexuales – Mujeres 15%) Además la categoría de HSH-UDI representa un 7% (N=35,080) adicional. La importancia de atender la situación del VIH en la isla, sobretodo siendo nuestra área estadística metropolitana una de las más afectadas, la ha convertido en una de las 12 ciudades participantes del esfuerzo del Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning (ECHPP). Esta iniciativa y el desarrollo de nuestro Plan Integral de Prevención nos ponen a la par del NHAS.
El impacto que ha tenido en VIH en la sociedad puertorriqueña amerita que continuamente se refuercen las estrategias de información pública y de concienciación. El Día Nacional Latino para la Concienciación del sida (NLAAD, por sus siglas en inglés) es un gran esfuerzo para alertar a nuestros ciudadanos, como latinos que somos, de la importancia de conocer las formas de prevenir el VIH y de conocer nuestro estatus. Además, la situación política de Puerto Rico crea un constante puente aéreo de intercambio entre los isleños y residentes de los EU creando unos lazos especiales con la comunidad latina dentro de los estados y otros territorios. Aunque las actividades relacionadas al NLAAD está todavía en desarrollo en Puerto Rico, cada año las personas están más consientes de su celebración y de su importancia para erradicar el estigma y discrimen hacia el VIH/sida con la esperanza de que no solo las personas que viven con VIH tengan una vida digna y sin perjuicios, sino que todas las personas que se puedan sentir a riesgo tengan la tranquilidad de acceder a conocer su estatus de VIH y entrar en tratamientos de así necesitarlo.
En Coaí, Inc., durante los últimos 7 años, el programa Aché ha estado realizando pruebas de detección de anticuerpos al VIH y educación en salud & reducción de riesgos. Con los fondos de AIDS United nuestro programa puede reclutar a HSH (negativa a riesgo de VIH o positivos) a participar de un modelo preventivo conocido como Muchos Hombres, Muchas Voces (3MV). A través de este modelo las personas adquieren conocimiento y herramientas para prevenir o reducir el daño al contagio del VIH. Nos sirve, además, como vehículo para reforzar en nuestros participantes la importancia de hacerse la prueba. Por eso, en conmemoración del NLAAD, nuestro programa estará distribuyendo condones, información y realizando pruebas de VIH en lugares donde socializa la población que servimos el 20 de octubre.
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day: A Perspective from Puerto Rico
by Peter M. Shepard Rivas, MS
Coaí, Inc
The HIV epidemic is a serious public health threat to the Hispanic/Latino community. Latinos account for 20% (9,400) of new HIV infections (including residents of Puerto Rico), which is itself 16% of the total population of the United States (CDC HIV/AIDS among Hispanics / Latinos Fact Sheet, Revised 11/2011). In terms of the statistics of the United States and its territories, Puerto Rico is among the top of incidence and prevalence of AIDS in adults.
According to the summary of the Office of Research and AIDS Surveillance, Department of Health regarding the HIV epidemic in Puerto Rico, each day three persons are diagnosed on the island (11/2009) with an average of 1,116 cases reported annually. Based on data from the Division of AIDS Surveillance as of September 30, 2012, Puerto Rico has reported 35.080 AIDS cases and 8.961 diagnosed HIV cases since June 2003. In terms of the objective population that we reach in our program, cumulative AIDS cases diagnosed at 30/09/12 in adults and adolescents for the risk behavior of men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 17% (N = 34.696), the second category by gender (Men who are injection drug users (IDU) – 39% and Heterosexual Females 15%). Also the category of MSM-IDU represents 7% (N = 35.080). The importance of addressing the HIV situation in Puerto Rico, especially our metropolitan statistical area, has been the reason that we have has become one of the 12 cities participating in the effort of Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Planning (ECHPP). This initiative and the development of our comprehensive prevention plan put us on par with the National HIV/AIDS Strategy.
The impact that HIV has had on Puerto Rican society necessitates that we constantly reinforce public information strategies and awareness. The National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) is an effort to alert our citizens that, as Latinos, it is important to know how to prevent HIV and to know our status. Moreover, the political situation of Puerto Rico creates an “air bridge” between the island and mainland with a constant exchange between the islanders and residents of the U.S., creating special ties with the Latino community within states and other territories. Although NLAAD-related activities are still under development in Puerto Rico, every year people are more aware of this observance and its importance to eradicate stigma of HIV/AIDS in the hope that, not only people living with HIV/AIDS have a healthy without harm, but everyone who might be at- risk have access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services.
For the past seven years in Coaí, Inc., and our Aché program we have been providing HIV tests and health education & risk reduction. With AIDS United funds our program recruits MSM (HIV negative at risk or HIV positive) to participate in a preventive and educational intervention known as Many Men, Many Voices (3MV). Through this model MSM acquire knowledge and tools to prevent or reduce damage for HIV infection. It also serves as a vehicle to reinforce in our participants the importance of getting tested. So in commemoration of NLAAD, our program will be distributing condoms, information and conducting HIV tests in places where the population we serve socializes on October 15.
Coaí, Inc is a grantee of AIDS United’s Puerto Rico grantmaking initiative
Education is Power
By Liam Cabal, Program Manager
Today, on National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I feel both hopeful and frustrated for the state of HIV among gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (MSM). I am hopeful because we are at a point in time where new prevention strategies are better targeting those most at-risk for infection and treatment options have improved the lives of those living with HIV. However, I am frustrated because as the rates of infection in the U.S. have remained relatively stable for the past six years, MSM continue to be disproportionately affected by and have the highest risk for HIV infection. While MSM make up approximately two percent of the nation’s population, they made up 61 percent of all new HIV infections in 2009. And among MSM, young MSM and black/African American MSM are the most disproportionately affected. We must increase our efforts to tackle the continued problem.
As a gay man, I am especially concerned with how HIV has affected my community. Working in the HIV field daily, sometimes I take for granted the knowledge I have about HIV prevention and treatment. It is when I speak to my peers outside of the field that I am reminded that many gay men have limited knowledge about HIV. They may remember some core messages: get tested regularly to know your status; use a condom when you have sex; and if you become infected, there are treatment options available that will allow you to live a long and healthy life. Unfortunately, they may not always act on them, or they don’t see HIV as a problem in our community any longer. We need to continue to engage gay, bisexual and other MSM about how HIV affects them, so they can protect themselves and stay healthy.
To help address this need, AIDS United has launched the first phase of its comprehensive m2mPower initiative through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). m2mPower is a multi-pronged initiative designed to build the capacity of organizations serving MSM to address HIV in their communities where AIDS United will have a targeted MSM mobilization effort to engage non-HIV specific organizations in Baltimore, Maryland and Atlanta, Georgia. The initiative will mobilize MSM in these communities around HIV-prevention messaging by using a unique combination of cash grants, training, intensive technical assistance, communications expertise, and program evaluation.
I have the privilege of managing this new initiative at AIDS United. The program is directly connected to my community and brings together my professional and personal passions. As we observe National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, I am proud and excited to be on the ground floor of what promises to be an exciting and comprehensive way to educate gay men about HIV and about their health. m2mPower truly reflects AIDS United’s commitment — and mine — to helping those communities disproportionately affected by HIV, and to bringing an end to the HIV epidemic in America.
A Front Row Seat to the HIV Scientific Revolution
By: Charles Stephens, AIDS United Southern Regional Organizer
The promise of the end of HIV seems more like a reality every day. Over 30 years into the epidemic, we have witnessed unprecedented scientific breakthroughs and innovation. Much of this happened in the past few years and in the biomedical HIV prevention realm. As Co-Chair of the Emory University Hope Clinic Community Advisory Board, one of the sites of the HVTN 505 study, I have a front-row seat to the HIV scientific revolution.
The Hope Clinic is one of the clinical trial sites for the HVTN 505 study. HVTN 505, branded in Atlanta as the Life Forward study, investigates the safety and potential efficacy of an HIV vaccine in gay and other men who have with men, and transgender women. As CAB members we provide insights and perspective around recruitment strategies, research dissemination, input on grant proposals, and assist in identifying strategic partners to move research projects forward. One of our most important tasks however, is bridging the academy with the community. Members of our CAB include: HIV/AIDS service providers, community members, people that work with or specialize in African-American communities, women, transgender women, and gay and other men who have sex with men.
CAB members are indispensible to the research process. Along with researchers, we forge a partnership built on a shared commitment to ending the epidemic.
I became interested in biomedical HIV prevention research advocacy several years ago. I was invited to attend a national meeting hosted at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. The meeting was convened by the Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project (CHAMP and brought together a diverse group of researchers and activists to identify strategies for how to best advocate for biomedical HIV prevention.
My background up to that point had been in HIV/AIDS community organizing and behavioral intervention implementation. The hope of a HIV vaccine seemed very abstract to me, so when I learned about all of the robust research happening, my interest was sparked. When the concept of the “HIV prevention toolbox” was introduced at the meeting, and the value of having multiple approaches to HIV prevention: biomedical, behavioral, and structural, it really struck me. Interventions must be coupled with each other for maximum efficacy.
Since then, I have become very interested in the development of HIV vaccines, and the advancement of biomedical HIV prevention, along with behavioral and structural approaches. I felt an urgency to see a vaccine developed for HIV, and this is what inspired me to join a CAB doing Vaccine research.
There are a number of substantial reasons to get involved with a CAB, particularly in the realm of biomedical HIV prevention, and vaccine research in particular. For one thing, to be able to ensure the interests and engagement of community members is key. Any successful research project requires various skill sets and perspectives so as to create the best and most impactful results. I have witnessed first-hand not only the significance of being involved in the planning of research grant proposals, but also the dissemination of data, including how to talk about and frame research findings and the best way to share them.
HIV vaccine researchers are responsible for not only facilitating the collection of data, and certainly analyzing the data, but also grappling with the implications of the data. This is significant because ultimately the implications of the data provide insights into conclusions that can be drawn and insight into the possibilities of future work and new directions. CAB members can offer considerably to this dialogue, and thus, the best ideas are brought to bear through diverse points of view.
As I reflect on my work on the CAB, this National HIV/AIDS Vaccine Awareness day, I am reminded of the enormous responsibility it is – and how satisifying it is — to be involved in the research process as a community advocate. Vaccines, along with the other tools in our HIV prevention toolbox, will bring us one step closer to an HIV free generation, and fulfill our potential and the promise to end the epidemic.
AmeriCorps Week | Team Carolina
Team Carolina has been busy. For AmeriCorps Week, we traveled North Carolina to find individuals who embody the message: “Life does not stop after a positive diagnosis.” Our long term project started with an idea, and has now blossomed into the production of a public service announcement campaign. Millions of individuals get newly diagnosed every day. Without the proper support system, these individuals may feel lost and alone. Additionally, because HIV-related stigma may keep people from disclosing their status, they may lack the public education necessary in order to take the next step after a positive diagnosis. We aim to produce awareness and information that help relieve this problem.
When we conduct interviews, we ask our interviewees to answer our questions as if they are talking to an individual who has just been newly diagnosed. As a result, we hear suggestive, honest, nostalgic, and regretful commentary. One of our goals for this project is for newly-diagnosed individuals who may see it to begin to feel like they have a community they can turn to. As human beings, a sense of community is something we naturally long for. When a stranger who has been positive for twenty-some years is telling you that life will be okay, the message becomes not only powerful, but intimate.
Team Carolina has conducted over ten interviews and the footage is truly inspiring. We have traveled from Charlotte to Greensboro to Fayetteville, while also recording anecdotes within the Triangle Area of North Carolina as well. Once interviews are completed, the editing process will begin. Our goal: one short public service announcement, one long(er) informational piece, and several commercial-length videos. 
It would be a dream if AIDS service organizations across the country could use the footage as an avenue to reach newly diagnosed people in their area. To launch the finished project, we plan on having a screening party with other local AmeriCorps teams, several AIDS Service Organizations, and the local community and media.
All of this could not have been possible without the assistance from AIDS United, and the University of North Carolina Center for AIDS Research. They have enabled us to maximize our resources in order to cover the various facets of this production.
Wear the Ribbon for Women on March 10
by Vignetta Charles, Ph. D.,
Senior Vice President, AIDS United
Did you know that March 10 is a disease awareness day that focuses on a health issue that disproportionately impacts U.S. women ?
If you realized that it was National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD, give yourself a gold star. If you didn’t, don’t fret. You are certainly not the only one who may not see the HIV/AIDS epidemic as a serious health issue for women and girls in the United States.
But it is. According to the CDC, nearly 300,000 women in the United States are living with HIV. Women and girls are becoming infected at alarming rates – particularly black women. In fact, the HIV rate among black women living in some U.S. cities is the same rate as that of some African countries, according to a new study presented last week at the 19TH Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). And there are huge disparities in how HIV/AIDS affects women in our country. In 2009, the rate of new HIV infections among black women was 15 times that of white women, and over 3 times the rate among Hispanic/Latina women.
As a woman, and as someone who has focused on women’s sexual health issues for a great deal of my career, I am particularly proud to be working for an organization that has really stepped up to the plate to support women-focused, community-based HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy programs for our nation’s women and girls. AIDS United combines strategic grantmaking, capacity-building, public policy and advocacy to advance its mission to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.
Since its inception, AIDS United has worked with and through our country’s populations most vulnerable to the epidemic. We know that reaching these diverse communities is not a one size fits all approach. To address the unique and specific needs of women living with or at risk for HIV, we support a healthy diversity in our projects and strategies.
In our Access to Care (A2C) initiative, three of our 10 grantees have developed programs targeting women. Christie’s Place’s Change for Women (C4W) program in San Diego is helping the city’s underserved HIV-positive Latina population get into and stay in care. AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts’ Project LEAP (Learning, Educating, Advocating with Peers) program is reaching women of color in Greater Boston living with HIV/AIDS and helping to improve their health outcomes. Washington AIDS Partnership’s Positive Pathways program in the District of Columbia is recruiting HIV-positive women to become Community Health Workers that identify other out-of-care women, build peer-based trust with them, help them navigate service systems and provide them support during their early part of their medical care.
Our Southern REACH (Regional Expansion of Access and Capacity to Address HIV/AIDS) initiative supports women-focused HIV advocacy projects in the Southern region of the United States. SisterLove, an organization in Atlanta, developed Pandora’s Promise for Women’s Health and Rights Equality, a program to amplify the strong, leadership voices of women living with HIV as advocates. New Orleans organization Women with A Vision, through its NO Justice project, advocates for change in criminalization laws that disproportionately impact women.
But it is our groundbreaking community-science partnership with Johnson & Johnson called GENERATIONS: Strengthening Women and Families Affected by HIV/AIDS that has been AIDS United’s flagship program targeting women and girls. The program combines AIDS United’s strengths of community-focused grantmaking and technical assistance with Johnson & Johnson’s commitment to supporting HIV prevention efforts for at-risk women and their families.
GENERATIONS provides capacity-building services through a unique community science collaborative model. The combination of cash grants, evidence-based prevention models, technical assistance and evaluation support all promote the development or adaptation of evidence-based programming to meet the needs of marginalized groups of women at high risk for HIV infection.
“The power of the GENERATIONS collaboration multiplies the unique strengths of each partner.” said Dr. Anu Gupta, Director of Corporate Contributions at Johnson & Johnson. “By leveraging programs that rely on evidence and measureable results, we know we are truly making a difference in the lives of so many women and girls in this country who are most at risk for HIV.”
AIDS United has learned so much from GENERATIONS and our other women-focused work. Now we must combine approaches to meet the needs of the whole woman. We must provide her with easily accessible and easy-to-use services, tools and treatment that work with her lifestyle and help her stay healthy and protect others. Because she may need more than just learning how to put on a condom — she also must be economically empowered enough to leave a partner who refuses to use one. She may also need the protection of medical technology like microbicides or other antiretroviral-based prevention strategies. And we want to ensure that she has all that she needs to thrive.
By providing the most at-risk populations of women in our country with a vital, comprehensive, culturally-appropriate system of HIV prevention and care services, we are helping their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, friends and community.
HIV/AIDS is indeed a serious health issue for women in our country. On this National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, let’s don our ribbon – our RED ribbon, and let’s do more than observe. Let’s create an AIDS-free generation of women and girls.