Michigan Department of Community Health, HIV/AIDS Advocacy Groups Launch Second Annual Black AIDS Awareness Campaign

The Michigan Department of Community Health on Wednesday launched the 2nd Annual Black AIDS Awareness Campaign -- featuring six weeks of events in 17 Michigan cities -- to promote HIV/AIDS prevention, education and treatment services in black communities throughout the state, the Detroit News reports. Blacks make up 14% of Michigan's population, and 58% of people living with HIV/AIDS in Michigan are black, according to the News. HIV/AIDS is a "health crisis in the black community," Robin Orsborn, an HIV prevention consultant for the Michigan Department of Community Health, said, adding, "It has a devastating impact." There is a "a whole litany of reasons" contributing to the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the black community, including poor access to health care, lack of affordable housing and other socioeconomic factors, Hank Millbourne, associate executive director of AIDS Partnership Michigan, said. The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Prevention, AIDS Partnership Michigan, Gospels Against AIDS/Global Research and Marygrove College will be hosting events, and several black churches also will join in the national Black Church Week of Prayer for the Healing of AIDS from March 5 to March 11 (Kozlowski, Detroit News, 2/1).