about us | Press

NHVREI and Gay City Health Project Honor National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day - Feb 5, 2010

NHVREI and Gay City Health Project Honor National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day:
Community involvement critical to successful research to find an HIV vaccine

SEATTLE, February 7, 2010 – More than 25 years since HIV was first

discovered, the virus continues to devastate individuals and

communities across the country, with African American communities

being affected at an alarmingly disproportionate rate. While black men

and women made up 13 percent of the U.S. population in 2007,1 they

accounted for more than half of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses that year

and nearly half of all Americans living with HIV/AIDS.2 These alarming

statistics highlight the urgent need for greater efforts on HIV/AIDS

prevention and treatment.

During the observance of the National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on

February 7, 2010, Gay City Health Project, a partner organization of

the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) HIV

Vaccine Research Education Initiative (NHVREI), honors those we have

lost to HIV/AIDS, those who are living with the disease, and those who

refuse to give up hope that one day we can stop the spread of this

pandemic. NHVREI, an initiative that partners and works with national

and local organizations in the U.S., focuses on creating an

environment supportive of HIV vaccine research. Through its work with

NHVREI, Gay City Health Project conducts community outreach and

education to raise awareness of HIV vaccine research and help stem

further spread of HIV into communities of color. On this National

Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, we remember that stopping the spread of

HIV/AIDS requires the continued commitment of all communities affected

by the epidemic, and we encourage individuals—especially those of

color—to get educated, get tested, get involved and get treated.

For more information, visit http://bethegeneration.nih.gov.

To learn more about HIV testing locally, visit http://www.gaycity.org/index.php?page=get_tested