For Immediate Release
Media Contact:Justin Burke - 213.201.1525 EMAIL:jburke@apla.org
NATIONAL BLACK HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7
Show 30% of Young, Black, Gay Men are HIV-Infected
Los Angeles, February 4, 2002 On National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Thursday, February 7, AIDS Project Los Angeles will join concerned communities and AIDS advocates across the nation in calling attention to the HIV/AIDS “state of emergency” in the black community.
AIDS is the leading killer of African-American men and women, ages 25-44. In Los Angeles County, African Americans account for ten percent of the population, yet 22 % of people now living with AIDS.
Congresswoman Maxine Waters called National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day “an opportunity to . . . demand that our nation’s leaders make funding for the fight against this devastating disease a national priority.”
Los Angeles events will include presentations on the impact of HIV/AIDS in the African American community, a “human billboard” (400 area youth holding messages on HIV for passing motorists) on Crenshaw Blvd., and a candlelight vigil in Leimert Park.
APLA is committed to serving minority clients in their own communities. In January, the agency opened its newest satellite facility, a food pantry located at Drew CARES, on the campus of Charles R. Drew University in South Los Angeles. APLA also conducts culturally specific HIV/AIDS prevention programs to communities of color. For more information on HIV and AIDS and HIV testing information, please visit www.apla.org.
National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is sponsored by the Community Capacity Building Coalition through the National Minority AIDS Initiative, and funded by the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
AIDS Project Los Angeles, one of the nation’s largest AIDS service organizations, provides direct services to more than 10,000 men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Services include prevention education, a food bank, professional dental care, housing assistance, mental health counseling, women’s services and case management. APLA is a leader in the provision of bilingual HIV treatment information, in print and on the Internet, and advocates for effective AIDS-related policies and legislation on the local, state and federal level.
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