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HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

NEWS RELEASE

Date:       March 00, 2006

Contact:   Teniade Fann, MD, MPH

               Phone:           (716) 898-4751

               E-mail:          tmfann@buffalo.edu

NATIONAL WOMEN AND GIRLS HIV/AIDS AWARENESS DAY

 African-American women and girls making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS

Buffalo, N.Y. – A community symposium, health and job fair will be held to mark the first National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Saturday, March 25, 2006. Anonymous and confidential HIV testing, health screenings, and job and career information will be available from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Delavan-Grider Community Center, located at 877 East Delevan Ave. (corner of Moselle).

According to Dr. Teniade Fann, project director at the State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of Family Medicine, “Today there are close to 1 million estimated HIV-positive individuals living in the United States. Of these, 25 percent or more do not know they are infected. Of those who do know their status, 42 to 59 percent are not getting regular HIV care. These numbers will continue to grow unless everyone knows their HIV status and takes decisive actions, such as prevention, treatment and care, against the disease.”

Locally, Erie County is number two (second to Monroe County) for the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases outside of New York City and surrounding counties (Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester). For Erie County, the City of Buffalo is the epicenter of the epidemic. Within the City of Buffalo, the East Side community is hardest hit by HIV/AIDS; especially those within the 14215, 14214 and 14211 zip codes.

“Of the estimated 1.5 million Americans that have been diagnosed with HIV since the beginning of the epidemic in June of 1981 through Dec. 2004, roughly 500,000 have already died. Unfortunately a new challenge is the rapid rate at which women and girls are becoming infected,” Dr. Fann said. 

The proportion of new AIDS diagnosis in women and girls has risen from 8 to 11 percent in 1990 to 27 percent in 2003. African American women accounted for an estimated 67 percent of new AIDS diagnosis amongst women in 2003; Latina and Hispanic women accounted for roughly 16 percent of new AIDS diagnosis. To date, HIV/AIDS is the number one cause of death in African American women ages 24-34.

Dr. Fann added, “Black and Hispanic women accounted for 81 percent of new AIDS diagnoses in 2004 among women. Women of color account for 80 percent of all women estimated to be living with AIDS, with black women making up 64 percent of the total.”

Anyone interested in attending the March 25 event may contact:

* Dr. Teniade Fann at 898-4751 or e-mail tmfann@buffalo.edu

* Ida Parker at 884-6711, ext. 204 or e-mail ijp@bppn.org

* Monica Brown at 878-2394 or e-mail brownmon@usa.redcross.org

Sponsors of the event include the Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health, the H.E.A.L. project (ECMC/UB Family Medicine), the Buffalo Prenatal-Perinatal Network and the American Red Cross, Greater Buffalo Chapter.