Georgia Department of Community Health and the Black AIDS Institute Bring “Greater Than AIDS” HBCU Testing Tour to Georgia

HIV Testing Tour will visit five Historically Black Colleges and Universities

LOS ANGELES, April 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The Georgia Department of Health and the Black AIDS Institute have partnered to present the Georgia>AIDS HBCU Testing Tour. The tour will kick-off on Monday, April 11, 2011 at Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia. Free HIV Testing will be available throughout the tour which runs until April 15th and stops at historically black colleges and universities in Albany, Fort Valley, Augusta, and Atlanta, GA .The tour will feature appearances from Atlanta-based MC, host and human beat boxer D.R.E.S. the BEATnik and poet Chauncey Beaty, who is featured in the Greater Than AIDS campaign. As part of the Greater Than AIDS campaign, a national media and mobilization initiative managed by the Black AIDS Institute and the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Georgia tour will call Black leaders to action and engage Black individuals and institutions in a community-wide effort to end the AIDS epidemic.

“We are at an important juncture in the trajectory of the AIDS epidemic in Black communities. The Black AIDS Institute is pleased to partner with the Georgia Department of Community Health to mobilize students at Georgia‘s historically black colleges and universities to fight AIDS stigma, raise awareness about the magnitude of HIV/AIDS in the community, and encourage young people in Georgia to get tested for HIV,” says Phill Wilson, President and CEO of event co-sponsor the Black AIDS Institute, the only national HIV/AIDS think tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people.

“We are fortunate to have all historical black colleges join the Georgia Department of Community Health in testing African-Americans where they live, work, play, and worship,” says Leisha McKinley-Beach, HIV Prevention Program Manager of the Georgia Department of Community Health.

The Georgia>AIDS HBCU Testing Tour is a partnership between the Georgia Department of Community Health, the Black AIDS Institute and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

About the Georgia Department of Community Health

The Division of Public Health (DPH) is the lead agency entrusted by the people of the State of Georgia with the ultimate responsibility for the health of communities and the entire population. At the state level, GDPH is divided into numerous branches, sections, programs and offices, and at the local level, GDPH functions via 18 health districts and 159 county health departments. DPH is part of a larger state agency, the Georgia Department of Community Health (DCH).

About the Black AIDS Institute

Founded in 1999, The Black AIDS Institute (The Institute), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is the only national HIV/AIDS Think Tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people.  The Institute’s mission is to end the AIDS epidemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing traditional Black leaders, institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV/AIDS. The Institute offers training and capacity building, disseminates information, interprets and recommends public and private sector HIV policies, and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view.

About Greater Than AIDS

Greater Than AIDS is an unprecedented collaboration among a broad coalition of public and private sector partners united in response to the AIDS crisis in the United States, in particular the severe and disproportionate epidemic among Black Americans and other heavily affected groups. Through a national media campaign and targeted community outreach, Greater Than AIDS aims to increase knowledge and understanding about HIV/AIDS and confront the stigma surrounding the disease.

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