Obama administration launches new HIV/AIDS awareness campaign, initiative

The White House, the Department of Health and Human Services and CDC recently launched a new national communication campaign to fight HIV/AIDS.

The campaign, called Act Against AIDS, is designed to put the HIV/AIDS epidemic, particularly the epidemic among minority populations, back into the national conversation. This is the first federally-funded national domestic HIV/AIDS campaign in almost 20 years.

The campaign will be accompanied by the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, which is a partnership with several leading black civic organizations that aims to integrate more robust HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention strategies into the black community.

Act Against AIDS will feature public service announcements, online communications and messages targeted to disproportionately affected communities. The theme of the first phase of the campaign is “9½ minutes,” which highlights the fact that there is a new HIV infection every 9½ minutes in the United States. The initial phase will include video, audio, print and online materials. The next phase will target the black population, with special focus on black women and black men who have sex with men. Subsequent phases will focus on the Hispanic community and other populations bearing a disproportionate burden of infection.

The campaign is one component of increased efforts by the Obama administration and the CDC to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, particularly in minority communities. In addition to a planned collaboration with the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation to further promote the messages of the campaign in the media and entertainment industries, CDC plans to develop prevention approaches, expand access to testing and deliver proven programs to high-risk communities. State and local health departments nationwide also are expected to contribute.