Rock the Red Pump Day - Nat'l Women HIV/AIDS Awareness Day; Gina Brown's Story

 

Today and next Friday I will be dedicating my posts to educating my readers regarding HIV and AIDS awareness in women.  Today I will be featuring Gina Brown, an African American woman living with HIV who is now an advocate for women who carry this disease. I felt it was important to feature someone living with this disease so we could put a face with this disease.  They are real people, who have families who love them, who want to be loved and deserve care and to be respected.  Next Friday, I will be posting an interview of a good friend of mine, Nakisha Floyd who is a women's health expert and we will continue this conversation around HIV/AIDS in women of color.

Tomorrow, March 10th is National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  I have partnered with The Red Pump Project to dedicate today's post to HIV/AIDS Awareness in women.  There are many statistics surrounding HIV/AIDS in women of color:

**HIV/AIDS is the:

• Leading cause of death for Black women (including African American women) aged 25–34 years.
• 3rd leading cause of death for Black women aged 35–44 years
• 4th leading cause of death for Black women aged 45–54 years
• 4th leading cause of death for Latina women aged 35–44 years
• The only diseases causing more deaths of women are cancer and heart disease
• The rate of AIDS diagnosis for Black women was approximately 23 times the rate for white women and 4 times the rate for Latina women
• In 2006, teen girls represented 39% of AIDS cases reported among 13–19 year-olds. Black teens represented 69% of cases reported among 13–19 year-olds; Latino teens represented 19%.

Just today I was forwarded this article in the LA Times that highlighted my demographic area as one where HIV was noted to be "hard hit" by black women.  I am so thankful that I have been tested and that my status is negative BUT for all of you who have not been tested, take this opportunity to visit your gynecologist, your local clinic or general practitioner and GET TESTED!

Check me out on Twitter @NaturallyNitaNC to see pictures of me rocking my red pumps to bring awareness to this disease!




**These statistics were from The Center for Disease Control’s website and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Fact Sheets (which cited the CDC). You can get more information about the effect of the epidemic from these sites.