Today, February 7, 2015, the nation will observe National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
This year’s NBHAAD theme, “I Am My Brother’s/Sister’s Keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS” challenges everybody to work toward eliminating health disparities by ramping up HIV prevention efforts. To this end, the Black AIDS Institute is calling for a major national campaign to increase HIV science and treatment literacy among the non-medical HIV/AIDS workforce.
In recent years, there have been major developments in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS in the United States. Some of these treatments can suppress the viral load in a person living with HIV/AIDS, which reduces the chance of transmitting HIV by up to 94%. Researchers also believe that when used properly, new Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs can reduce the chance of transmission by up to 94%.
However, even with these new advances, United States prevention efforts are stalled. There are still roughly 50,000 new cases of HIV every year. Further the majority of the non-medical HIV/AIDS workforce is unfamiliar with the new bio-medical interventions and they are insufficiently knowledgeable about how and when they should be used. According to “When We Know Better, We Do Better: State of HIV/AIDS Science and Treatment Literacy,” a recently released national report by the Black AIDS Institute, spreading this information among the public is the key to ending this devastating epidemic.
We all have a role to play in working toward an AIDS free generation. Today on Twitter, use the hashtag #KnowBetterDoBetter to participate in the spread of scientific knowledge about HIV and AIDS.