MIAMI, FL. (October 2019) According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2017, “Hispanics/Latinx accounted for 26% of new HIV diagnoses in the United States and dependent areas, despite making up only 18% of the US population.”
The term Latinx was originally created in the ten-year period from 2000 through 2009 to refer to those of Latin American descent who do not identify as being of the male or female gender or who simply don’t want to be identified by gender.
The theme for National Latinx AIDS Awareness Day in 2019 is “Living with HIV or not…we’re fighting this together.” This day serves as an opportunity to form positive relationships that include access to prevention methods such as PrEP, HIV testing, education about viral suppression and more.
Care Resource has been a leader in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties providing Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an effective prevention strategy aiming to reduce HIV acquisition risk by 99% if taken as prescribed. It is part of the comprehensive prevention plan that includes adherence and prevention counseling, HIV risk behavior counseling, HIV prevention education, and the provision of condoms.
“Living with HIV or not…we’re fighting this together.”
When taken as prescribed, HIV medications can decrease the amount of HIV present in a person’s blood, or “HIV viral load”, to be too low to measure. This is called being undetectable. Individuals who are undetectable cannot transmit the HIV virus: undetectable means untransmittable. When an undetectable level is reached and maintained, individuals can protect the health of their sex partners and lead healthy lives.
In addition to confidential counseling, the health center plays a part in ending the AIDS epidemic by providing rapid HIV testing at no-cost. Join us today in our struggle to shed a light on the fight against HIV/AIDS within the Latinx community!
CLICK HERE FOR TESTING HOURS AND LOCATIONS
About Care Resource:
Care Resource is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) with four locations in Midtown Miami, Little Havana, Miami Beach, and Fort Lauderdale. The health center provides comprehensive health and support services to address the full health care needs of South Florida’s pediatric, adolescent and adult populations.
For Media Inquiries or additional article information, please contact Jonathan Welsh, Associate Director of Development and Communications at jwelsh@careresource.org
