Let’s Stop HIV Together: June 27th is National HIV Testing Day
Washington, DC – June 26, 2015 – The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), the nation’s leading civil rights organization dedicated to the empowerment of Black lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender (LGBT) people, joins with the nation every year on National HIV Testing Day (NHTD) to highlight the need for every single American to contribute to the fight to end HIV. NHTD reminds us that we all have the power to serve as change agents in our families and local communities by getting tested, getting into care and ending stigma in our families and communities around HIV/AIDS. This is our opportunity to ALL make a difference!
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 1.2 million people in the U.S. are currently living with HIV with 1-in-7 of those infected unaware of their status. The 2010 Census recorded that 13.6 percent of the nation’s population was Black, yet that same year CDC HIV incidence data reported that Black Americans represented 44 percent of new HIV infections among all adults and adolescents (age 13 and older).
In response to these devastating numbers, NBJC introduced the Black LGBT Health and Wellness Initiative in 2014. This initiative was launched by a call to action to the Black family around addressing HIV/AIDS on World AIDS Day 2014. Central to NBJC’s strategic advocacy work is to connect the Black family construct to the importance of caring for the unique challenges of their Black LGBT loved ones.
NBJC is once again calling to action our community to #OwnOurPower, #GetTested & #EndStigma:
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#GetTested: You should test for HIV at least every six (6) months. Need help finding somewhere to get tested? Visit www.hivtest.org to find testing services in YOUR LOCAL community.
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#GetInCare: If you test positive for HIV, get in care ASAP! Find a provider you can trust and develop a treatment plan in order to take control of your health. If you test negative for HIV, you still need to be in touch with a primary care physician. Click HERE to find a list of providers in your community.
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#EndStigma: Speak out about HIV/AIDS with your family, friends, in your community and on social media. Let’s have a real and authentic conversation about how we can ALL end the HIV epidemic in our nation. Key to this conversation, and ultimately ending the epidemic, is confronting the hurtful stigma that is still associated with HIV/AIDS by so many in our world. We all deserve justice and love, which mean we must ALL be a part of the fight to end HIV.
Let’s #OwnOurPower & End HIV!!!
