by
Astrid Fiano, DOTmed News Writer | April 15, 2009
The Centers for
Disease Control (CDC)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC), in conjunction with White House and Department of Health and Human Services officials have announced a new five-year national communication campaign, entitled Act Against AIDS. This CDC campaign, the first related to HIV/AIDS in over a decade, is based upon the fact that every 9 ½ minutes another person in America becomes infected with HIV. According to its press release, the CDC wants to combat complacency about the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States. Its 2008 data indicate about 56,000 Americans become newly infected with HIV each year, more than previously known, and more than 14,000 persons with AIDS die each year in the United States.
"Act Against AIDS seeks to put the HIV crisis back on the national radar screen," said Melody Barnes, Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, in the press release. "Our goal is to remind Americans that HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious health threat in the United States and encourage them to get the facts they need to take action for themselves and their communities."
The CDC says the campaign will feature public service announcements (PSAs) and online communications, including targeted messages and outreach to the populations most severely affected by HIV/AIDS-beginning with African Americans, the population who bears the greatest burden of HIV, the CDC says. The future phases of the campaign will focus on Latinos and other groups.
The CDC says it will be collaborating with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation for outreach and technical assistance to the media and the entertainment industry.
The Obama Administration also announced the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative (AAALI), a partnership with 14 of the nation's leading African American civic organizations to integrate HIV prevention into each organization's outreach programs and reach out to African American communities. The first phase of the Act Against AIDS campaign is "9 ½ Minutes," a series of video, audio, print and online materials to increase knowledge about the severity of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United States.
More information on the Act Against AIDS campaign can be found at www.cdc.gov/hiv/aaa and www.NineAndaHalfMinutes.org.
Based on a press release by the CDC.
