Today marks the 30th anniversary of World AIDS Day. The Day is about raising awareness and money to end the spread of the HIV virus. This year the theme is “Getting to Zero,” which aims to elevate our collective drive to put an end to the disease. We are a long way away from that day.

According to UNAIDS data, there are currently more than 34 million people living with HIV throughout the world. Sadly, there were an estimated 1.8 million deaths last year related to AIDS.

Unfortunately, among women with HIV, black women are disproportionately affected. In recent years, black women accounted for 30% of the estimated new HIV infections among all black people. The rate of new HIV infections for black women was greater than 15 times as the rate for white women, and three times than that of Latina women.

There are resources available to help our community. A short list includes: Alicia Keys’s Keep A Child Alive Foundation (http://keepachildalive.org/), AIDS Healthcare Foundation (http://www.aidshealth.org/), The Foundation for AIDS Research (http://www.amfar.org/), National AIDS Foundation (http://www.aidsfund.org/), and Elton John AIDS Foundation (http://www.ejaf.org/).

Get tested.

 

Indigo Thread: Women of Vision and Purpose is a column on Orijin Blog and Magazine. The column focuses on Black women in the media and other areas of society, including social, cultural, economic and spiritual. The blog appears on Thursdays, and the magazine version of the column appears in each edition of the publication. It is written by anthropologist and actress, Michelle Flowers, who is based in Los Angeles, CA.

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michelleflowers

Michelle Flowers works as an applied anthropologist and educator. She is currently pursuing her Ed.D. in Educational Leadership.

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