Increased Latino HIV Testing Urged as Part of New Campaign and Video

Public Health-Seattle & King County and the Latino LGBT group Entre Hermanos are launching a campaign to mark National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (Oct. 15) and encourage HIV testing. Latinos represent 6 percent of the county’s population but 13 percent of recent HIV diagnoses. About 40 percent were late testers, meaning they received an AIDS diagnosis within 12 months of their first testing HIV-positive.

“All Together: The Latino HIV Testing Campaign” (“Todos Juntos: Campaña Latina para la Prueba del VIH”) will introduce a video on Friday. Directed by local filmmaker Drew Emery, the video features a cross-section of Latinos and Latinas who emphasize the importance of routine HIV testing as a healthy community practice. It is also important for pregnant women to get tested to prevent mother-to-child HIV transmissions, the campaign notes.

In addition to posting the video on their websites, Public Health and Entre Hermanos will ask community members to share it widely through social media such as Facebook and Twitter, and through blogs and e-mail.

“This project has already had a tremendous response from the community,” said Marcos Martinez, executive director of Entre Hermanos. “It’s been really powerful to provide an outlet for community voices to be heard on an issue that matters to them.”

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.

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