December 23, 2009

NJ Activist Lobbies Religious Leaders on HIV Prevention

AIDS activist Deloris Dockery is having some success lobbying religious leaders in Newark, New Jersey, to discuss HIV prevention with their congregations, NJ.com reports.

According to the article, Dockery was diagnosed with HIV in 1994. She has since earned a master’s degree in public health and now heads the One Conversation program at the New Jersey–based Hyacinth AIDS Foundation.

As part of her outreach work, Dockery travels to churches throughout the Newark area giving presentations and organizing testing centers. She urges religious leaders to talk about safer sex, needle exchange programs and early detection.

One in 47 people in Newark is living with HIV/AIDS. And one in 62 African Americans in New Jersey is living with HIV/AIDS compared with one in 705 whites, according to the city’s Department of Health and Senior Services. 

Search: Deloris Dockery, Newark, HIV prevention, Church, religious leaders

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