AIDSImpact.com:: - Santa Fe, USA 2011

Abstract #93 - National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) - Promoting HIV testing through social media
Authors: Presenting Author: Ms. Melissa Ramirez - Latino Commission on AIDS
Additional Authors:
Aim: National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) is a national community mobilization and social marketing campaign that unites the Hispanic/Latino community in efforts to raise HIV awareness, promotion of HIV testing, prevention and education; in addition to other critical health issues such as Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Tuberculosis. NLAAD is also a capacity building opportunity that aims to improve the ability of community based organizations, faith based congregations, and local health departments to provide HIV testing, prevention and education services through collaboration and partnership opportunities. Join us to learn more and how you can be a participant for NLAAD 2011.
Method / Issue: The last day of Hispanic Heritage Month, October 15th, has been designated as National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD). In 2003, NLAAD was established in response to the impact of HIV and AIDS on Hispanic/Latino communities nationwide, including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. NLAAD is a national community mobilization and social marketing campaign that unites the Hispanic/Latino community in efforts to raise HIV awareness, promotion of HIV testing, prevention and education; in addition to other critical health issues such as Viral Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Tuberculosis. NLAAD is also a capacity building opportunity that aims to improve the ability of community based organizations, faith based congregations, and local health departments to provide HIV testing, prevention and education services through collaboration and partnership opportunities. Since its establishment in 2003, National Latino AIDS Awareness Day has demonstrated to be a successful AIDS Awareness Day. In 2009, NLAAD solidified support from 420 partners who together, organized 350 events in 35 states across the United States, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Through a partnership with OraSure Technologies, 10,000 HIV testing kits were donated to HIV certified testing sites throughout the U.S. and NLAAD efforts were covered by more than 4,000 media outlets.
Results / Comments: By facilitating partnerships, hosting community events and garnering vast media exposure, such as Univision, CNN Espanol, El Diario, Washington Herald, Twitter and FaceBook, Latinos/Hispanics were encouraged to seek HIV testing, counseling and treatment, and, through developing and disseminating prevention strategies,to promote healthy communities. OraSure Technologies donated thousands of rapid HIV tests to NLAAD partners thereby effectively providing testing and counseling to thousands of Latinos/Hispanics. NLAAD’s annual congressional briefing held this year on September 23rd, which aims to educate Congress on the HIV/AIDS epidemic in our community, was attended by both parties, Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen (R) and Congresswoman Roybal-Allard(D), as well as James Albino from the White House, Dr. Garth N.Graham from the Office of Minority Health, Soraya Galeas from the Metropolitan AIDS Coalition, and Alicia Carbaugh from Kaiser Family Foundation, amongst others.
Discussion: There is an urgent need to accelerate the development and widespread use of effective strategies for populations that are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. One way to accomplish this goal is to enhance awareness of HIV/AIDS amongst the Latino/Hispanic population which comprises over 19% of HIV/AIDS cases nationwide. NLAAD, which takes place every October 15th, started in 2003 to draw attention to the critical role HIV testing and prevention education plays in stemming the spread of HIV. While NLAAD is a national campaign it is implemented at the local level. Specifically, 45 states (plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico & the U.S. Virgin Islands) and approximately 350 cities implemented local NLAAD events such as health fairs and cultural events in which many included HIV testing. One of the primary goals is to increase the number of people who know their status. For NLAAD 2010, 54% of those who participated in our evaluation survey noted that the individuals testing at their events were not previously aware of their status. Furthermore, over 97% of those that held an event for NLAAD in 2010 reported collaborating with other agencies and 60% reported having a planning and organizing committee. Given the effectiveness of NLAAD 2010 (as evidenced by the above) this session will focus on providing examples of successful events, providing tools for campaign development and outline the steps for creating successful collaborations. The roundtable discussion will focus on the NLAAD as an effective social marketing tool in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the Latino/Hispanic community.
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