September 27 is National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. This day is a call to action to reduce the impact of HIV in the gay community. HIV disproportionately affects men who have sex with men – more so than any other group in the United States. Furthermore, HIV greatly affects communities of color within the men who have sex with men community. Young African-American men are the most disproportionately affected – it is estimated that 1 in 2 will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime.
This National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, the CDC encourages people to:
– Talk about HIV! Normalizing the conversations around HIV will help people to talk about it and be able to make informed decisions.
– Get tested! Knowing your status is key to keeping yourself and your partners healthy.
– Use protection! Condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis, post-exposure prophylaxis, and making educated choices are all tools to help slow down the spread of HIV.
– If you are HIV-positive, begin taking medication to achieve viral suppression – which is important for the your health but also greatly reduces the chance of transmitting the virus to others.
For more information, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a lot of great resources!