News 2017
In This Issue
Earlier this month BTAN chapters nationwide engaged in activities to promote HIV testing and treatment mobilization efforts as the country marked National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. We open this issue with a round-up of events that took place in several cities that day.
BTAN Chapters Mark NBHAAD
Members of BTAN Charlotte during their 2017 NBHAAD event
On Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, Black Treatment Advocates Network (BTAN) chapters around the country marked the 18th annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD) by participating in events that promote HIV testing and treatment mobilization efforts in Black communities. This year's theme was "I Am My Brother/Sister's Keeper: Fight HIV/AIDS." Local BTAN chapters did their part to increase awareness and promote greater participation. Here is a roundup of some of their activities:
AAHU Fellow Jeffery Edwards-Knight: We Need the Biomedical Background and Knowledge AAHU Provides
AAHU Fellow Jeffery Edwards
One in a series about recent graduates of the African American HIV University (AAHU).
From 1984 until 2006, Jeffery Edwards-Knight worked as an engineer for Duke Power (now Duke Energy) in North Carolina, but during those two decades with the company, he says, "I felt like I was not making a difference." So in 2005, in his early 40s, he decided to return to school to study something he enjoyed. "I went back to get my degree in criminal justice at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. I wanted to work with inmates after they came out of jail and help them with HIV services," he says. Working with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) was important to Edwards-Knight because he'd been living with HIV since the late 1980s.
Spreading The Word About HIV Prevention For African-American Women
PrEP can be effective for women too!
African-American women are more likely to be infected with HIV than other women, and many don't know it. So public health officials and advocates are trying to get the word out about PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis. It's a daily medication that helps prevent HIV infection.
Read more: Spreading The Word About HIV Prevention For African-American Women
Five Quick Ways HHS Secretary Tom Price Could Change The Course Of Health Policy
Thomas Edmunds Price, M.D., Donald Trump's pick as Secretary of Health and Human Services
After a bruising confirmation process, the Senate confirmed Rep. Tom Price, R-Ga., to head up the Department of Health and Human Services, by a 52-to-47 vote.
As secretary, Price will have significant authority to rewrite the rules for the Affordable Care Act, some of which are reportedly nearly ready to be issued.
Read more: Five Quick Ways HHS Secretary Tom Price Could Change The Course Of Health Policy