HU Hosts HIV/AIDS Awareness Seminar

Hampton, VA -The Hampton University Student Government Association (SGA) will host an HIV/AIDS Seminar entitled “Dangerously In Love.” The seminar will take place on Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). Hampton students will come together in the Student Center Theatre from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. to share testimonies, music and poetry about HIV/AIDS and black relationships. The event is free and open to the public.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic continues to be a large problem for African Americans in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2002, HIV/AIDS was among the top three causes of death for African-American men between the ages of 25 and 54. For African-American women between the ages of 25 and 54, HIV/AIDS was among the top four causes of death in the year 2002, and for African- American women between the ages of 25 and 34 it was in fact the number one cause. While African Americans only make up approximately 13 percent of the United States population, they account for nearly 50 percent of Americans who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS.

Over the past seven years, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has become a very important tool in increasing awareness, participation and support for HIV prevention, care and treatment among the African-American community. NBHAAD has also helped to convey the importance of HIV/AIDS testing as well as playing a part in educating African Americans about the modes of HIV/AIDS transmission. The day is also designed to help get more people from the community involved in HIV/AIDS awareness, while at the same time counseling and seeking treatment for those who are currently living with HIV/AIDS.

The “Dangerously in Love” seminar is one of the first HIV/AIDS presentations from the Hampton University Student Government Association’s newly formed HIV/AIDS awareness committee. The committee hopes to inform and help protect as many students as possible from the devastating threat of HIV/AIDS among the African-American population.

For more information contact the Office of Student Activities at (757)727-5691 or event coordinator, Darrian Mack at (410) 371-4269.