Facing AIDS for World AIDS Day 2009: How You Can Take Action with One Photo

By Jennie Anderson and Josie Halpern-Finnerty

Tree Alexander at USCA

If a picture says a thousand words, how much would a picture of you wearing a red ribbon and holding a sign that says you're "Facing AIDS for World AIDS Day" say? Could it help end stigma? Promote HIV testing? We think so - and we need your help.

Last week at the U.S. Conference on AIDS, we kicked off the relaunch of our Facing AIDS for World AIDS Day campaign. Hundreds of you stopped by our photo booth and told us why you are Facing AIDS. In doing so, you are helping to reduce stigma around HIV by putting real faces to the people who care about responding to HIV, and by helping to promote HIV testing. We first launched this campaign last year for the 20th World AIDS Day and given how many of you responded, we're doing it again this year and taking it to the next level.

New Media Institutes, Usability Testing, A Photo Booth, and More: Preview of AIDS.gov's Activities at the U.S. Conference on AIDS

By Jennie Anderson

What do new media institutes, usability, and a BIG RED photo booth have in common?

They are some of activities we're planning for later this month at the U.S. Conference on AIDS (USCA) . This annual conference, hosted by the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) , will take place October 29-31st in San Francisco and will bring together public health experts, people living with HIV, government employees, activists, and community leaders from across the country (and a few from around the world!). We're so grateful to the organizers of USCA — they've put together a packed agenda for the conference, and we look forward to taking part.

Today is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day

By Daniella Rivera, AIDS.gov Fellow

James Albino, Office of National AIDS Policy

Today is National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) . Earlier this week we shared some of the ways that people are using new media to get the word out about NLAAD. Here's an update on just a few of this week's many NLAAD activities.

The Latino Commission on AIDS (the lead organization for the day) and its partners sponsored a Congressional Briefing yesterday on Capitol Hill that brought together the voices of key leaders who are addressing the disproportionate impact of the epidemic in Hispanic/Latino communities nationwide. The Office of National AIDS Policy was invited to be a part of a wide array of speakers at this session on Capitol Hill. Here’s a short audio clip I recorded, (transcript also available - PDF, 21 KB) in which James Albino, Senior Program Manager, recapped the key messages offered during the briefing by Jeffrey Crowley, Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy.

United We Can Stop HIV and Prevent AIDS, Unidos Podemos Detener el VIH y Prevenir el SIDA

By Deb LeBel

National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) , planned by The Latino Commission on AIDS (LCOA) and its partners , is this Thursday, October 15. This year NLAAD organizers from LCOA, AIDS service organizations, faith communities, health departments and others are integrating a variety of communication tools — both traditional and new media — to most effectively reach their local and national audiences. Some of the tools include:

• PSAs: Soy (I Am) is a national campaign with a series of Spanish-language public service announcements (PSAs) with subtitles in English that feature Latinos living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and Latin America. In their second year of collaboration, Soy partners Kaiser Family Foundation , Univision , and LCOA have created fourteen new PSAs for you to embed in your website, blog, or social network site.

National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and the Internet

By Miguel Gomez

Understanding how gay and bisexual men are using the Internet and its impact on HIV transmission, testing, and care is critical. Sunday, September 27, is National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NGMHAAD), which National Association of People with AIDS (NAPWA) and its partners originated and sponsor. NAPWA is using the Internet to support this day which was launched in 2008 in response to the increasing rates of HIV among gay and bisexual men. Here are some comments from Tom Kujawski, NAPWA’s Vice President of Development about the day:

Tom Kujawski, NAPWA’s Vice President of Development

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Gay and bisexual men, particularly young men and men of color, continue to be disproportionately impacted by HIV and AIDS in the US. NGMHAAD calls upon the nation to respond collectively to the HIV crisis facing gay and bisexual men. NGMHAAD works to encourage gay and bisexual men to get tested; to illustrate how communities, including corporate and elected officials, care about the well-being of gay and bisexual men; and to raise awareness about the severity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among gay and bisexual men.”

“We hypothesize that gay men generally use three primary types of new (online) media: a) Mainstream: This category includes major publications (national newspapers/monthlies), blogs and social networking (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.); b) LGBT-focused: This category is mainly gay blogs and sites (e.g. Towleroad, gay.com, Andrew Sullivan); and c) Dating & Sex Sites.