NBHAAD

Sunday, February 7, marks National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2016. First observed in 1999, NBHAAD is organized by what is now called the Strategic Leadership Council. The theme of this year’s NBHAAD is “I Am My Brother’s and Sister’s Keeper. Fight HIV/AIDS!”

NBHAAD is “a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and the Diaspora,” according to the initiative’s website, NationalBlackAIDSDay.org. The campaign encourages people to do four key things:

  • Get Educated about HIV and AIDS;

  • Get Involved in community prevention efforts;

  • Get Tested to know their status; and

  • Get Treated to receive the continuum of care needed to live with HIV/AIDS.

You can follow @natblackaidsday on Twitter and social media for more details and events.

Meanwhile, AIDS.gov includes a locater of HIV testing sites and a rundown of related profiles and articles, include campaigns from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC notes that:

Blacks make up 12 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 44 percent of new HIV diagnoses, the highest rate of all races/ethnicities. Among all blacks, gay and bisexual black men, especially young men, are disproportionately affected. However, we have seen encouraging signs of progress. From 2005 to 2014:
  • New diagnoses among blacks declined by 22 percent, with a 14 percent decline from 2010-2014.

  • New diagnoses among black women were cut nearly in half, with a 25 percent decline from 2010-2014.

  • Black gay and bisexual men ages 13-24 experienced a steep increase in new diagnoses, but diagnoses among this group declined by 2 percent from 2010-2014.

And don’t miss these recent POZ articles: