Avenue Pink issues a call to action to join the fight against HIV/AIDS via a HIV/AIDS awareness and testing digital campaign, launching on World AIDS Day, December 1.
Avenue Pink’s World AIDS Day campaign takes a proactive role in the fight against HIV/AIDS with a digital photo story contest to encourage young people to get tested and educated about the disease that takes the lives of young people of color at alarming rates.
The campaign challenges participants to upload pictures of his/her HIV/AIDS testing experience to the Avenue Pink World AIDS Day Facebook fan page album and post a short note about the experience, what was learned or how he/she pledges to become actively involved in the fight against AIDS. The first 10 participants will be announced on the Avenue Pink Facebook Fan Page, the December 7 Avenue Pink radio show and receive an HIV/AIDS awareness prize pack from BET’s Rap-It-Up campaign and LIFEbeat, the music industry's charitable organization dedicated to reaching America’s youth with the message of HIV/AIDS prevention.
In consideration of the 2009 World AIDS Day theme, 'Universal Access and Human Rights,' the online competition serves as a tool to increase prevention, treatment and care awareness within the young urban community. The overall goal is encourage more involvement in HIV/AIDS advocacy initiatives.
According to UNAIDS, there are now 33.4 million people living with HIV, including 2.1 million children. During 2008, some 2.7 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 2 million people died from AIDS. Around half of all people who become infected with HIV do so before they are 25 and are killed by AIDS before they are 35. The vast majority of people with HIV and AIDS live in lower- and middle-income countries. But HIV today is a threat to men, women and children on all continents around the world. (www.avert.org/
Next week, Avenue Pink radio will address the HIV/AIDS epidemic and open the airwaves to discuss increasing awareness and involvement in the movement with Harlem United AIDS Community Center representative, Joshua Hinkson, set to air on MONDAY, December 7 at 10 p.m. EST at http://www.avenuepink.com.
To learn about World AIDS Day events and HIV/AIDS visit BET’s Rap-It-Up website at www.rapituppresents.com, Lifebeat’s website www.lifebeat.org, AVERT’s website at www.avert.org/
For more information about Avenue Pink’s digital photo story contest, visit http://theavenuepink.blogspot.com or e-mal events@avenuepink.com. For more information about Avenue Pink, LLC, visit www.avenuepink.com or contact Jasu Sims at jasu@avenuepink.com.
