Long Beach, News

Latinos talk prevention

More than 20 percent of people newly diagnosed with HIV in this country are Hispanic or Latino, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Salud a La Vida, a program under the Latino Community Health Center at California State University, Long Beach will be hosting National Latino Awareness Day in University Student Union room 304.

The event, which will be held from noon to 1 p.m., will include three speakers sharing testimonials and answering any questions students might have.

NLAAD was established in 2003 as a response to the impact HIV and AIDS created in Latino and Hispanic communities nationwide, according to the NLAAD website.

Thursday also marks the end of Hispanic Heritage Month, which started on Sept. 15th.

According to the Salud a la Vida website, the program provides free HIV testing to students at CSULB. The testing is made possible by a partnership with Bienestar, a non-profit social service organization that focuses on serving the Latino community as well as underserved communities in Southern California. Salud a la Vida’s focal points are health education, reducing HIV rates, substance abuse and Hepatitis C, said Diana Aguirre, a graduate health educator for Salud a la Vida.

Bienestar provides fast, free and confidential results in under 20 minutes, according to the Bienestar website. If anyone has any questions about HIV or how to prevent HIV, Bienestar also has a dropbox online where anyone can go ahead and ask a confidential question and Bienestar will answer as soon as possible.

According to a surveillance report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latinos/Hispanics make up nearly 19 percent of the population who were diagnosed with HIV from the year 2009 through 2013. As far as AIDS diagnoses, Latinos/Hispanics comprise about 10 percent in the United States.

Among one in five of HIV infections are with the Latino community in the United States, according to the CDC. In 2011, 11,302 adult and adolescent Latinos were diagnosed with HIV, 84 percent were Latino men and 16 percent were Latina women.

In 2013 the city of Long Beach reported 1579 total HIV cases, according to the city of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services. Latinos and Hispanics accounted for 481 of those cases.

The CDC reported, approximately 1 in 50 Latinos and Hispanics will encounter HIV throughout their lifetime. The age group with the highest rate of HIV infection in Latinos and Hispanics is 25 to 34 years old.

Bienestar will provide free HIV testing on Thursday at the Student Wellness Center as well as testing on Oct.29th, on the Social Sciences and Public Administration lawn.

Salud a la Vida invites all students to join the free event on Thursday.

For more information on how to prevent HIV and AIDS students are welcomed to visit the Center for Latino Community Health or the Health Resource Center on campus.

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