National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day: Changing the Landscape of HIV and AIDS

February 7, 2011 marks the 11th year for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. On this day HIV/AIDS testing and community mobilization initiatives are targeted towards the Black community. This year’s title theme is “It Takes a village to Fight HIV/AIDS”



When you look at HIV/AIDS by race and ethnicity, Blacks have more illnesses and more deaths related to the disease than any other ethnic group even though they make up only 12% of the U.S. population. Forty-five percent of all new HIV infections and 46% of people living with HIV in the U.S. are Black. In 2007, blacks accounted for 57% of deaths due to AIDS and nearly 50% of new AIDS diagnosis in 2008. Illinois statistics are similar to that of the national trend. There are 60,000 Illinois residents living with HIV of which 49% are black.

Join our Facebook Cause “I’m Changing the landscape of HIV and AIDS” by donating your profile image for a day. To do this:

1.  log into your facebook account (or set one up if you don’t already have one).
2. Search for IDPH-BASUAH (Government Organization), or follow this link
3. click on “Join the fight” tab, click on the badge to download the badge image. The badge will download to your photo album, but you will first . . .  
4. accept the application request to download the badge to your profile
5. go to your photo album, click on the badge and make it your profile image
6. use the share button to share this application with your friends.

By doing this, you are helping to raise awareness and reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.