The number of HIV/AIDS cases continues to increase among blacks, and organizations across the country are coming together this weekend for National Black AIDS Day to raise awareness in hopes of changing that trend.

“The burden of HIV in African-American communities is staggering, and we cannot allow this crisis to continue,” says Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention. “Today, we have many more opportunities than ever before to stop HIV.”

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is Sunday, Feb. 7, but events are being held in some cities beginning Friday and continuing throughout next week.

This year’s theme is "HIV/AIDS Prevention: A Choice and a Lifestyle." Most events offer educational forums and free testing, and rallies are slated for several cities including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Tallahassee. Because Awareness Day falls this year on a Sunday, several community organizations and churches have joined forces to present programs.

In Birmingham, Alabama, at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, HIV/AIDS screening and educational information will be offered following the morning worship service, said Tony Morris, executive director of Jefferson County AIDS in Minorities.

“The church has been at the forefront in empowering black people to make change,” Morris told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “The church can also be at the forefront of empowering people to get tested and know their status.”

Morris said the screening process will take about three minutes for a cheek swab. Each swab will be packaged and sent off with results returned in four days.

“Each person who is tested comes in to our office for their results. We are prepared to provide medical referrals, counseling and support for those who test positive,” he said.
Those who test negative but may be involved in risky behaviors will be encouraged to get tested regularly if they do not change behavior, he said.

Between now and the end of the year, his agency hopes to test at least 4,000 people as part of the national Test 1 Million campaign, Morris said.

The Philadelphia chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women is one of several organizations offering testing this weekend in that city.

Latifah Fields, a spokeswoman for the group, said the coalition is partnering with the Health Federation of Philadelphia at the Mercy Eastwick Wellness Center.

“We are hoping to test at least 100 people on Saturday,” she said. We know that African-Americans are the ones who are disproportionately effected and affected by HIV/AIDS. We just want to encourage everyone to get tested and get treated, if needed.”

The harsh reality, Dr. Fenton of the CDC says, is that one in 16 black men will be diagnosed with HIV at some point in their lifetime, as will one in 30 black women.

“Black gay and bisexual men and black women are particularly hard hit by HIV,” Fenton said. “Nearly two-thirds of new infections among black men occur among men who have sex with men. Black women are also disproportionately affected by HIV, with infection rates 15 times as high as those of white women.”

On Tuesday, C. Virginia Fields, executive director of the National Commission on AIDS/HIV, will deliver a speech in Washington, D.C., on the state of AIDS/HIV in the black community.

“I’ll discuss how HIV/AIDS continues to increase in this 30-year epidemic,” Fields told BlackAmericaWeb.com. Although blacks represent less than 13 percent of the nation’s population, “we account for more than half of the people who get HIV and AIDS.”

Also in Washington, D.C. next week, Fields said she will meet with black clergy who will be in town to lobby for passage of HR 1964. Rep. Charles Rangel of New York proposed the resolution .....

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