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Local
Churches Join the Fight Against AIDS in the Black Community |
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Today, National
Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, health departments, social services agencies,
and some churches in Broward County are offering HIV testing and education.
"[HIV/AIDS
is] a crisis in our black community," said
Donna Markland, Florida Department of Health regional minority AIDS
coordinator in Broward. African Americans make up 21 percent of the county's
population, and "one in every 58 black people is living with AIDS or HIV.
That's a crisis."
African-American preachers in the county are speaking out from the pulpit to
urge HIV/AIDS awareness. Health officials say the efforts of groups such as
Churches United to Stop HIV are beginning to pay off. "To some extent, the
silence is being broken," said Spencer Lieb, senior epidemiologist at the
state health department's Bureau of HIV/AIDS. "But there's still a great
disparity" in the number of blacks who contract HIV compared to other racial
and ethnic groups.
Donovan Thomas, 25, said he wants AIDS awareness to reach black communities
every day, not just on special days like today. Thomas, who runs a marketing
company in Deerfield Beach, has collaborated with health officials to create
a local awareness campaign. "Respect Yourself, Check Yourself, Protect
Yourself" is a multi-media effort using billboards, yard signs, bus benches,
kiosks, fliers, and brochures in English and Creole "to communicate the
seriousness," he said. "AIDS is killing off blacks. We must take ownership
of our actions."
The campaign includes "street soldiers" who take prevention literature and
HIV testing kits to clubs and places where young people congregate. "I have
a young brother and a younger sister," Thomas said, explaining his
motivation for creating the campaign. "What you don't know will kill you."
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South Florida
Sun-Sentinel (02.07.07):: Gregory Lewis |
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We are providing the above information as a public
service only. Providing synopses of key scientific articles and lay
media reports on HIV/AIDS, other sexually transmitted diseases
does not constitute endorsement. The above summaries were prepared
without conducting any additional research or investigation into the
facts and statements made in the articles being summarized, and
therefore readers are expressly cautioned against relying on the
validity or invalidity of any statements made in these summaries. This
CDC HIV/STD/TB Prevention News
Update also includes information from CDC and
other government agencies, such as background on MMWR articles, fact
sheets and announcements. |
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