We commit to empower African-born immigrants with HIV-Prevention skills. We pledge to continue doing this even beyond the Black History Month. According to AHF, 37 million people living with HIV worldwide. 240 people being infected with HIV every hour. Less than 50% of all people living with HIV on life saving antiretroviral treatment. According to http://www.actforyouth.net/, Globally, over 100 million STIs occur each year in people under the age of 25 years, and an estimated 11.8 million people aged 15-24 were living with HIV by mid-2002. Further, about half of all new HIV infections worldwide, or nearly 6,000 cases per day, occur in young people.
Between 2017-2027, we shall engage all the African-born Immigrant/Refugee groups, association and entities in owning skills to demand for health screening and information in the following thematic areas:
- Health Education
- Age-related Counselling and Support
- Mother and Child Health Counselling and Support
- Men, health and wellbeing counselling and Support
- Sexual Assault, HIV transmission and the Law
- HIV-related skills
- Integrated HIV-related medical check ups:
- Positive living care
- Positive living literature
- HIV testing and complementary services
- ARV initiation
- STD check ups
In the United States alone, approximately one-quarter of new STI infections, almost four million, are diagnosed among teens. Moreover, approximately 1,700 newly diagnosed cases of AIDS were reported in people between the ages of 13 and 24 in 2003. However, the risk of STI/HIV infection is not uniform among adolescents. Females, men who have sex with men, injection drug users, people who have exchange sex (i.e., sex for money or goods), and racial minorities have markedly higher rates of STI/HIV during adolescence. Prevention among immigrants must look into the intersectionality aspect of: need for acculturation; practices that make one vulnerable; prevention practices; health seeking practices; economic sustainability practices; the justice, law and documentation issues of an immigrant; understanding of HIV-related laws; networks within which one survives; peer pressures; and resilience practices. All these impact on the way an immigrant is engaged in HIV prevention.
