Statement on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
WASHINGTON — In recognition of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and to call public attention to the disproportionate impact of the AIDS epidemic on Black communities, and especially Black LGBTQ and same gender loving (SGL) communities, David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC), released the following statement:
“Black communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV/AIDS, not because we are more sexually active, but because our communities continue to lack access to healthcare and other preventive measures like PrEP. Our communities have also long been targeted by anti-Black systems like mass incarceration, economic disenfranchisement, and school-to-prison pipelines. Stigma against LGBTQ and same gender loving people compounds the struggles of those most at risk and stifles necessary conversation and action.
“The fight to end HIV/AIDS does not stop with drug development and laboratory research. We must also invest in more HIV testing, more prevention services, more health services and deliberate policy change.”
