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CBCF Encourages People to Get Tested in Honor of World AIDS Day
An estimated 34 million people globally have HIV
WASHINGTON—A. Shuanise Washington, president and CEO of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated (CBCF) released the following statement on World AIDS Day.
“Today, we pause to acknowledge the prevalence of HIV and AIDS worldwide. An estimated 34 million people are living with the disease worldwide. In the U.S, more than 500,000 African Americans have the disease.
“Although significant improvements have been made to treat HIV and AIDS, overall, African Americans still lack access to those medical treatments, and are still overrepresented in the infection rate.
“The CBCF has a long-standing commitment to HIV/AIDS awareness. This year, we marked World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, 2015, by sponsoring and participating in the 6th Annual International Conference on HIV Stigma at Howard University in Washington, DC.
“The conference brought together medical and public health professionals, advocates, faith leaders, students, researchers, and people living with HIV and AIDS to discuss a wide range of efforts and solutions to fight stigma and discrimination.
“Today we encourage everyone to get tested in honor of World AIDS Day. As a community, we must ban together to eliminate stigma around HIV and AIDS, and provide education, training and prevention strategies to those most at risk.”
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ABOUT CBCF
The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Incorporated, established in 1976, is a non-partisan, non-profit, public policy, research and educational institute intended to broaden and elevate the influence of African Americans in the political, legislative and public policy arenas.