WASHINGTON, Apr 7, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- A five-year U.S. communication
campaign highlights that almost every 10 minutes an American gets infected with
HIV, White House officials said.
Officials from the White House, Department of Health and Human Services and the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday that the campaign,
Act Against AIDS, aims to combat complacency about the HIV/AIDS crisis in the
United States.
More than 14,000 people with AIDS die each year in the United States, officials
of the CDC said.
"Act Against AIDS seeks to put the HIV crisis back on the national radar
screen," Melody Barnes, assistant to the president and director of the White
House Domestic Policy Council said in a statement.
"Our goal is to remind Americans that HIV/AIDS continues to pose a serious
health threat in the United States and encourage them to get the facts they need
to take action for themselves and their communities."
The first phase of the $45 million Act Against AIDS campaign, called
"9-and-a-half Minutes," uses a series of video, audio, print and online
materials to increase knowledge about the severity of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the
United States.
URL: www.upi.com
Copyright 2009 by United Press International