Nashville’s Black ministers bolster HIV/AIDS fight
African-American churches around Nashville sent a message to their clergy Sunday by taking an HIV test to let that their congregations know that it’s important for every adult to know their status. The HIV tests were part of the city’s Metro Health Department’s effort to fight HIV/AIDS. They are trying to harness the power and influence of Black churches. The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated at least 250,000 people in the United States are infected with HIV and are not aware of it. Blacks are 13 percent of the U.S. population but make up 49 percent of AIDS cases. That AIDS is the leading cause of death for Black women ages 25 to 34 and the second-leading cause of death for Black men ages 35 to 44 promoted the ministers to act. The results of the rapid HIV test from the churches were available the same day but given to the test takers over the phone by the Metro Health Department for added privacy.

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TAGS: hiv/aids, hpv, minisers, nashville, vaccine

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