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On October 27, more than 1,000
people are expected to participate in the 20th AIDS Walk El Paso. This year’s
5K walk and pet walk at Cohen Stadium is called “Band Together Walk Together.”
AIDS Walk El Paso is the largest public awareness event and fundraiser for
HIV/AIDS in El Paso. The organization International AIDS Empowerment will use
the money raised from the walk for the HIV/AIDS testing, case management,
prevention and education, medical services, clothing, a food pantry, housing,
utility services, and outreach and prevention programs that it directly
coordinates.
Jae Salinas, a peer counselor with
International AIDS Empowerment, will be marching on October 27. He has been
living with AIDS for half of his life. He was given very little hope at the
time of his diagnosis, but since that day 20 years ago, his goal has been to
promote a better understanding of HIV and AIDS. “Once I got diagnosed, my thing
was to help people get informed,” said Salinas.
According to International AIDS
Empowerment, there are about 1,800 reported cases of HIV or AIDs in El Paso,
and the number of unreported, untested people could range from 7,000 to 10,000.
Ogechika Alozie, an assistant professor at Texas Tech University Health
Sciences Center and an infectious disease physician at University Medical
Center, explains, “The biggest burden of HIV now is 18- to 25-year-old Hispanic
men having sex with other men. My guess is 80 percent of the 1,800 [reported
cases] are Hispanic. In our clinic, it’s 90 percent (Hispanic).” Alozie, who is
also on the International AIDS Empowerment board of directors, added that
advocates must educate the younger population about the dangers of HIV/AIDS.
Nationally, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention estimates that there are 1.2 million people in the
United States with an HIV infection, and one in five persons infected with HIV
does not realize it.
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.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
