September 2011
The First Lady (Finally) Mentions HIV/AIDS
by Cristina González
We love the POTUS and FLOTUS (President of the United States and First Lady of the United States) for getting tested for HIV publicly in Kenya during his presidential campaign. Now, we love Michelle Obama for mentioning HIV/AIDS in her June 22 speech in South Africa, saying: “You can be the generation that ends HIV/AIDS in our time—the generation that fights not just the disease, but the stigma of the disease.... HIV is preventable and treatable and should never be a source of shame.” Now, if we could only get her to mention that HIV/AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death of women ages 15 to 44 worldwide and that African-American women are 18 times more likely to get HIV than their white peers.
Search: Kenya, South Africa, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, African-American
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Marla J. Francisco, Urbana, IL, 2011-10-01 12:50:54
Mrs. Obama,
I am glad that you finally acknowledged HIV/AIDS on your visit to Kenya, but we need more of your support here in the USA, especially in how it affects the African-American Community. Did you know that African-American women have an 18% chance more of contracting HIV/AIDS than white women and that it is also the main cause of death of these woman from ages 14-55? PEPFAR is a good start, but we need more support from the leaders of our country to help eradicate the stigma here!
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