HIV Vaccine Awareness Day - Friday, May 18th
Last June, the world observed the third decade since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first cases of what we know today as HIV/AIDS. Despite the profound impact this disease continues to have in our communities, HIV Vaccine Awareness Day (HVAD) is a time to reflect on the remarkable progress we have made in HIV prevention research and treatment. This research involves microbicides which include gels that may be applied topically by women and men and other products containing a drug known as Tenofovir to prevent sexual HIV transmission, and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an approach that involves the use of a daily oral dose of anti-HIV drug (Truvada) taken by uninfected individuals to avoid HIV infection.
Please join us on Friday, May 18th, as we commemorate HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. On that day, Us Helping Us will provide HIV counseling and testing, and STD screenings, from 10 am to 6 pm at its office, 3636 Georgia Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20011. For more information, contact us at: 202 446-1100.
Us Helping Us’ Initiation of National Dialogue on a
‘Paradigm Shift” in HIV Infection Declared a Success
Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU), a community-based AIDS organization in Washington, D.C., has declared a success in its January 2011 launching of a national dialogue about a “paradigm shift” in HIV infection among black gay men. UHU decided to initiation a dialogue when a 2010 District of Columbia behavioral surveillance study found that black gay men were reporting more condom use and less sexual risk behavior than white or Latino men yet they were disproportionately infected with HIV. The traditional theoretical model of a positive correlation between HIV risk behavior and HIV prevalence was not true for black gay men.
“Us Helping Us believed that the study showed a major shift in the dynamics of HIV infection among black gay men that could have a profound impact on effective prevention in the United States,” said Ron Simmons Ph.D., the president/CEO. “We thought it important to bring this issue to the public’s attraction because black gay men were being demonized for becoming HIV-infected through greater risk behavior when they were really engaging in less risk behavior.”
Dr. E.W. Emanuel and Mr. Edward Jones
Join the Board of Directors
Us Helping Us, People Into Living, Inc. (UHU) is pleased to announce that Dr. E.W. Emanuel and Mr. Edward Jones have joined the Board of Directors.
E.W. Emanuel, M.D., M.B.A., is the Associate Medical Director for Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic. His responsibilities include: health education and promotion materials; market liaison between the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group and the Kaiser Health Plan; and access and internalization of services in the area of women’s health care and premature infants.
Edward M. Jones is the Director of Conference and Meeting Programming at the Council on Foundations. He was a founding member of the Black Philanthropic Alliance, a network of professionals in philanthropy and nonprofits that identify manage and influence investments and resources to strengthen and connect the black community in the Washington, DC region.
“We are honored and excited to add the expertise of Dr. Emanuel and Mr. Jones to the Board as we contribute to fulfilling the mission of Us Helping Us,” said James Hadley, the Chairman of the Board.
