April 10th is National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD). On NYHAAD, we support youth living with HIV/AIDS, shine a light on the virus’ disproportionate impact on Black youth, & work to reduce stigma to ensure all of us can thrive. In 2018, young Black gay, bisexual, and same-gender loving men made up 51% of new HIV diagnoses among young gay and bisexual men overall. The rate of new infections among Black girls and women aged 13 to 24 is six times higher than that of young Hispanic women and 20 times that of young white women.
Learn more about how HIV/AIDS affects Black youth by downloading NBJC’s NYHAAD one-pager HERE.
NBJC has created the Words Matter HIV Toolkit to support Black people in having asset-based, stigma-free conversations about holistic health and wellness. The toolkit also encourages loved ones to stay healthy by taking medicine if they are living with HIV or seeking to maintain an HIV-negative status. To end the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we must reduce HIV transmissions. Reducing transmissions will only happen when we are all regularly screened for HIV and confidently know our status. Doctors recommend getting tested every three to six months. You can find a testing site near you HERE or get a free at-home HIV testing kit HERE.
NYHAAD #MyFirstHIVTweet Twitter Moment
Many young people engage in activism around racial justice and the LGBTQ+/SGL community but do not show up in conversations around HIV/AIDS. On NYHAAD, NBJC is creating a virtual safe space to continue our #MyFirstHIVTweet campaign. Our goal is to make the HIV epidemic visible to young people, provide accurate information about how it affects their community, and empower people to share their first HIV Tweet. Join @NBJCOnTheMove on Twitter by sending a #MyFirstHIVTweet.
Digital Assets:
You can engage in National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and help spread essential information about HIV transmission and testing using the NYHAAD one-pager and digital assets shared below. Share these assets across social media platforms to start conversations with those who follow you using the hashtags: #NYHAAD, #PACT4HIV, #StopHIVTogether, and #MyFirstHIVTweet.
