To commemorate Facing AIDS: World AIDS Day 2008 and raise awareness on this important issue, Winston-Salem State University hosted the 2008 Mini-Conference on AIDS, December 1.
An estimated one million Americans are living with HIV with worldwide numbers exceeding 33 million. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2006 alone, 56,300 new HIV infections occurred in the United States. The battle against HIV/AIDS is being waged on many fronts-including research on HIV transmission and treatment; caring for people living with HIV; designing more effective prevention strategies; developing an HIV vaccine; providing housing for those living with HIV/AIDS, etc.
Co-sponsored by WSSU’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Social Work, the conference featured guest speakers: Amy Lindsey, Community Relations Director at AIDS Care Services, Ambassador Molelekeng Rapalaki, Diplomat -in-Residence at WSSU, and Dr. Scott Rhodes, assistant professor in the division of Public Health Sciences at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.
Observed every year on December 1st, World AIDS Day was established by the World Health Organization in 1988. World AIDS Day provides governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community associations, and individuals with an opportunity to promote HIV risk reduction, and educate, motivate, and mobilize communities to fight against this global pandemic.
