HIV Prevention Programs in U.S. Target Black Audiences 

CHICAGO

      The sixth annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness and Information Day brought university students to Roosevelt University's auditorium in downtown Chicago last week to hear some music, gather some information and get tested for HIV.

      ``You always want to know,'' said 21-year-old student Gia Davenport. ``If you have the opportunity to protect yourself and be more knowledgeable, you should take that chance.''

Davenport was one of thousands of people nationwide who took part in HIV/AIDS awareness programs last week.

Organizations across the United States held outreach events, including a Safer Sex Comedy Show in New York City and candlelight vigils from Florida to California.

      The events are just one way HIV/AIDS service providers nationwide have developed prevention and treatment programs specifically tailored to reach Black audiences.

      The awareness day campaign was launched six years ago to address disproportionately high rates of HIV in the Black community. While Blacks make up 13.5 percent of the U.S. population, they are 47 percent of the 1 million Americans living with HIV, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

      In Los Angeles, the Minority AIDS Project sends its outreach workers into universities, beauty shops, nail salons, shopping centers, welfare offices and laundromats to bring its safe-sex messages to Black women.

      ``They're not going to come to you,'' said Carolynn Martin, program manager for client services for the AIDS project.

      The New York City-based Gay Men's Health Crisis, the country's oldest HIV/AIDS organization, also sends its peer educators into bars and clubs. Both organizations also have had some success working with Black churches.