Tag Archives: HIV testing

10 Events for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

07 Monday Feb 2011

Posted by in Events, Health

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February 7th marks the 11th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD), a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative designed to increase the awareness of HIV/AIDS prevention among African Americans. The theme for 2011 is “It Takes a Village to Fight HIV/AIDS.”

Often on health awareness days, people don’t know how to take action, or they may feel overwhelmed by the multitude of events to sift through.  In honor of National Black HIV/Awareness Day, I’d like to help.

Here are ten events going on today in the New York metro area*:

  1. Black Men’s Initiative at Harlem United
    HIV Testing
    Raynal Jabouin, Jr., Program Director
    290 Lenox Avenue, Lower Level
    New York, New York 10027
    O: 212-289-2378, x206; F: 212-289-2394
    E: rjabouin@harlemunited.org
    W: blackmensinitiative.org
  2. Caribbean Women’s Health Education, Inc.
    Candlelight Vigil; HIV Testing; HIV Workshop and Education On Site; Condom Negotiation Skills and Demonstration
    Ann Marie Coore, Director of HIV Program
    3512 Church Avenue
    Brooklyn, New York 11203
    O: 718-940-9501; F: 718-826-2948
    E: erooc@yahoo.com
    W: cwha.org
  3. Exponents
    Community Forum; Health Fair; HIV Testing; Displaying of AIDS Quilt
    Donald R. Powell, Director of Development
    151 West 26th Street, Third Floor
    New York, New York 10001-6810
    O: 212-243-3434, ext. 145; F: 212-243-3586
    E: dpowell@exponents.org
    W:  exponents.org

  4. Lower East Side Harm Reduction Center
    Candlelight Vigil; Community Forum; HIV Testing; Support Groups for people who are HIV+
    Monique Wright, Prevention Services Coordinator
    25 Allen Street
    New York, New York 10002
    O: 212-226-6333; F: 212-343-8005
    E: monique@leshrc.org
    W: leshrc.org

  5. Montefiore Medical Center
    Art Competition; Community Forum; HIV Testing; Public Service Announcement; Webcast
    Frances Rodriguez, Patient Educator
    111 East 210th Street
    AIDS Center FCC-3rd Floor Clinic
    Bronx, New York 10467
    O: 718-920-8436; F: 718-515-3509
    E: franrodr@montefiore.org

  6. Our Watchful Eye
    Community Forum;  HIV Testing; Mayoral Proclamation; Newspaper Article; Press Conference; Radio Broadcast; TV/Cable Programming; Mural signing and red ribbon banner unveiling; 7:00 p.m. event will be in collaboration with the Medgar Evers College (CUNY) of Brooklyn.
    Divinah “Dee” Bailey, CEO/Founder
    20 New York Avenue, Suite 100
    Brooklyn, New York 11216
    O: 347-533-4300
    E: watchfuleyedb@aol.com
    W:  ourwatchfuleye.org

  7. Redemption Outreach International
    Community Forum; Health Fair; HIV Testing; Newspaper Article; Press Conference; Public Service Announcement; Radio Broadcast; Distribution of Educational and preventive materials as strategic locations from Wednesday  Feb. 9 to Friday Feb 11; Essay/poetry competition for the youth on HIV/AIDS topics
    Rev Ambrose Chalokwu, Chairman
    14-25 Central Avenue, Suite 4
    Far Rockaway, New York 11691
    O: 347-654-5062; F: 718-868-8321;
    E: redemptionoutreachintl@yahoo.com
    W: redemptionoutreach.org

  8. Rising Star Baptist Church
    Community Forum; HIV Testing; Faith-based Program
    Contact: Linda Eaddy, Servant Leader
    118-03 202 Street, St. Albans, New York 11412
    O: 347-869-1903; F: 718-546-8323;
    E: Lalaw29@aol.com

  9. Ryan-NENA Community Health Center
    HIV Testing; Workshops; Raffles; Education/Information table
    Eileen Villanueva, Community Outreach Worker
    279 East 3rd Street (Btwn Ave C & D)
    New York, New York 10009 USA
    O: 212-477-8528; F: 212-477-8879
    E: eileen.villanueva@ryan-nena.org
    W:  ryancenter.org

  10. William F. Ryan Community Health Center
    Community Forum; HIV Testing
    Cinthia M. Tejada, Supervising Health Educator
    110 W 97th Street
    New York, New York 10025
    O: 212-769-7291
    E: cinthia.tejada@ryancenter.org
    W: ryancenter.org

For more information on NBHAAD, visit: blackaidsday.org.

Have You Done It Lately? – World AIDS Day 2010 at The Body

22 Monday Nov 2010

Posted by in Asian/PI, Health

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Great news! I have a World AIDS Day blog entry on TheBody.com, the AIDS information clearinghouse. Check out the link along with info about HIV testing below.

If you have questions about HIV testing and AIDS education, please visit www.apicha.org, email at apicha@apicha.org, or call the APICHA InfoLine at 1.866.APICHA.9 (866.274.2429). Phone lines are answered by trained and competent peer counselors in Bengali, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Tagalog, and Urdu.

Have You Done It Lately? – World AIDS Day 2010 at The Body.

Have You Done It Lately?

Yes, you read right.

Have you done it lately?

Have you gotten tested for HIV lately?

That’s the topic for an upcoming Vox Pop video for MTV’s Staying Alive Foundation to be filmed in association with the Asian & Pacific Islander Coalition on HIV/AIDS , Inc. (APICHA).

The need for the dialogue about HIV testing is strong among Asian/Pacific Islanders (APIs), who are the lowest group in statistics for HIV testing for people living in NYC. In 2009, 58 percent of APIs reported that they have never been tested, compared to almost 28 percent of African Americans and Hispanics. As for those who got tested “lately,” only 17 percent of APIs got tested in the last 12 months, compared to 45 percent of African Americans and 41 percent of Hispanics.

Opening the dialogue among social media networks seems to be a growing trend in World AIDS Day campaigns. UNAIDS launched a recent social media campaign, “#Prevention Revolution,” to engage people in an online dialogue about topics in HIV prevention every Tuesday leading up to World AIDS Day. The first YouTube video uses animation and a compelling statistic of more than 7000 new HIV infections every day to call for a “prevention revolution.”

APICHA has been working on HIV prevention in the API communities of NYC for 21 years, and still they say the fight is not over. HIV/AIDS stigma and related discrimination continue to pose a problem for testing with APIs. Candidness is not a common trait in traditional Asian cultures, least of all candidness about sexual practices and health.

What about you? I’d like to hear from you, the readers, about your thoughts on HIV testing.

Have you done it lately? What freaks you out about getting tested? What was the tipping point (or event) that made you decide to get tested?

If you haven’t done it lately, what’s stopping you? Tell us about it in the comments.

Pamela K. Santos is an Asian American independent blogger and community volunteer for APICHA and other organizations. Subscribe to her blog on www.pamelaksantos.com and follow her on Twitter @PamelaKSantos for topics about health (including HIV/AIDS and sexual health), women’s issues, and Asian/Pacific American communities. She has dedicated her personal and professional efforts to fighting HIV/AIDS in memory of her late uncle.