The National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) has partnered with the Greater than AIDS movement and the Black AIDS Institute to reengage Black Americans in fighting the AIDS epidemic by making an historic commitment to cover AIDS in Black America in the nation’s Black press. NNPA represents 200 member newspapers and more than 15 million readers. Greater Than AIDS is a national movement to unite and mobilize Americans in response to the AIDS crisis in our country, in particular the devastating epidemic facing Black Americans. The Black AIDS Institute is the only HIV/AIDS think tank in America focused exclusively on the impact of HIV/AIDS on Black people.
Thirty years into the epidemic, Black Americans remain disproportionately impacted by HIV and AIDS:
* Although Blacks
represent about one in eight Americans, they are one of every two people living
with HIV in the U.S.
* The U.S. Centers for
Disease Control released a study in October showing that one in 22 Black Americans
can expect to become HIV positive over the course of their lifetime.
* AIDS is the leading
cause of death for Black women age 25-34 and the second leading cause of death
for Black men age 35-44.
* Blacks living with HIV
have an age-adjusted death rate that is more than twice as high as that of
HIV-infected whites.
“The importance of educating the African American
community about HIV has never been more important than it is today,” said
Dorothy Leavell, Chair of the NNPA Foundation Board of Directors. “Although we
are excited by breakthroughs in medicine, the fact remains that the number of
people living with HIV in our community is still high, and that number is
growing. We have a lot to do. This epidemic is not over and we all have to
redouble our efforts.”
“The Black press has been heroic in its effort to confront
HIV and AIDS. It was one of the first institutions in Black America to respond
to the epidemic,” said Phill Wilson, Founder and CEO of the Black AIDS
Institute. “With this partnership, the Black press will create opportunities to
engage the whole of Black America in a conversation about HIV and AIDS in a way
that no other institution in our community can.”
The release
this year of a National HIV/AIDS Strategy by the Obama Administration marks the
first time the federal government has issued a planned response to deal with
AIDS in America. That strategic focus, coupled with passage of the Affordable
Care Act (ACA), will dramatically increase Black Americans’ access to health
care. The ACA prohibits insurers from denying health coverage to children with
HIV and AIDS; prohibits lifetime caps on coverage costs; and expands Medicaid
eligibility of those low and moderate-income people living with HIV.
“We are at
a crossroads. This is our best chance yet for ending the AIDS epidemic. The NNPA is uniquely positioned to
mobilize Black communities all across this nation,” Wilson said. “We need to
use the infrastructure we have to mobilize Black people to be engaged in the
design and implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, and the Black
press is one of the few institutions in Black America that can accomplish
that.”
The
groundbreaking project will see weekly coverage of AIDS in the nation’s Black
newspapers; public forums on AIDS in Black America in each of the NNPA’s five
regions; and public service announcements.
(AP
Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)
