World AIDS Day 2014 Events in Rhode Island

Join the RI HIV Prevention Coalition at noon, Monday, December 1, 2014 in the State Room at the Rhode Island State House for a World AIDS Day ceremony.  Speakers include Governor Lincoln Chafee, Rep. Christopher Blazejewski and:

Dr. Amy Nun--an Assistant Professor of  Behavioral and Social Sciences at the Brown University School of Public Health. She is also the Executive Director of the Rhode Island Public Health Institute (RIPHI), which is dedicated to reducing health disparities in Rhode Island and beyond. Dr. Nunn is best known for her innovative community partnerships to address  health disparities, including engaging African American clergy and community leaders in HIV and HCV testing, treatment and social marketing campaigns. Dr. Nunn received the "Outstanding New Researcher Award" at the 2009 CDC HIV Prevention Conference and an NIH Career Development Award in 2010. Her community-based research and public health programs have been profiled by CNN, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Washington Post, public radio, and other prominent media outlets. She is a native Arkansan, holds master’s and doctoral degrees from the Harvard School of Public Health, and is former Fulbright Scholar. Dr. Nunn speaks fluent Spanish and Portuguese and has also lived and worked extensively in Latin America. She is the proud mother of two children, Agustin and Valentina. 

Josh Kilby--a healthcare worker and Queer activist living (and organizing) in Providence. He has recently gone on PrEP (pre exposure prophylaxis).

Brandon Fernandes—an advocate for the LGBT community for more than five years. He has worked for various nonprofit organizations teaching safer sex and HIV prevention to youth and adults in the LGBT community as well as at the local youth centers.  Brandon shares his positive attitude throughout his work. He is passionate about the importance of safer-sex education for youth and relaying messages in an engaging, genuine way.  

As of 2012, we have lost over 1,591 Rhode Islanders to this epidemic. Although, our rates of infection have decreased over the last 30 years, there were still 74 new cases of HIV in 2013- 74 cases too many. With the RI Department of Health’s tremendous efforts for increased testing, this number has surely increased for 2014. Unfortunately, primary prevention is still largely underfunded and should be considered a valuable piece to prevention if we are to truly get to zero.

HIV/AIDS is still a serious disease. We have made tremendous strides in treatment but we have yet to find a cure. Help us- Join the fight!

The following events are free and open to the public:

RISD Recognizes World AIDS Day 2014

November 17, 2014 through December 5, 2014

Fleet Library, Mandle Building, 15 Westminster St., Providence

4 panels from the National AIDS Quilts

For more information: Visit: events.risd.edu or contact: Intercultural Student Engagement (ise@risd.edu or 401.277.4957)

Rhode Island World AIDS Day Statehouse Event

Monday, December 1, 2013, 12:00 noon

Rhode Island Statehouse

Featured Speakers: Governor Lincoln Chafee, Representative Christopher Blazejewski, Dr. Amy Nunn, Josh Kilby, Brandon Fernandes

Sponsored by Rhode Island Coalition for HIV Prevention

Contact Person: Kristen Pfeiffer, MSW; kpfeiffer@lifespan.org

A Night of Sonnet and Song

Monday, December 1, 2014, Doors open at 5:30pm

St. Anne’s Art and Cultural Center

84 Cumberland Street, Woonsocket, RI 02895

Sponsored by The Agape Center of Community Care Alliance and Thundermist Health Center, Contact: lcohen@famresri.org

Alternate Endings: The Ongoing HIV/AIDS Epidemic 

Featuring videos by 7 artists/collaborates

Monday, December 1, 2014, 8pm

Free (suggested $5 donation)

AS220 Black Box Theatre

95 Empire Street, Providence

Sponsored by: Visual AIDS and Headmaster Magazine

Focus, Partner, Achieve: An AIDS-free Generation

Wednesday, December 3, 2014, 7-8:30pm

URI Alumni Center

73 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI

Parking off Fortin Road at rear of center
Sponsored by: AIDS Quilt RI, Anna’s Workshop, URI Public Relations Strategies Class

World AIDS Day Event Today at State House

A Rhode Island State House event honoring World AIDS Day is being held today, Friday, November 30, 2012 from 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm in the State Room.

The event is being sponsored by The Rhode Island HIV Prevention Coalition. Featured speakers are Governor Lincoln Chafee, U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and Rhode Island House Speaker Gordon Fox.

The Coalition was formed in the spring of 2012 with the goal of reducing the incidence of new HIV infections in Rhode Island through collaboration, education, and advocacy. It is composed of twenty-two community-based organizations and other partners who meet regularly to support efforts to reduce HIV among high-risk groups through primary prevention efforts.

According to Thomas Bertrand, MPH, executive director of AIDS Project Rhode Island, “The State House event represents an opportunity for the Coalition and elected officials to renew attention to a public health problem that has been neglected for too long in Rhode Island."

The Rhode Island Department of Health HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Profile indicates that HIV continues to be a persistent public health problem in Rhode Island, with 106 new HIV infections reported in 2010.

“While we have seen some preliminary signs that indicate a small overall drop in HIV in recent years, some groups remain disproportionately impacted by HIV. People aged 20-29, as well as gay/bisexual men, represent groups that are making up an increasing percentage of new HIV infections. In addition Latinos and African Americans continue to have disproportionately higher rates of HIV infection compared to whites,” according to Wendy Hadley, PhD, assistant professor, Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Bertrand warns, “Unfortunately, an increase in HIV infection for at-risk groups could occur in coming years, as government funding for primary HIV prevention to community groups evaporates in Rhode Island on December 31, 2012.” Funding to conduct HIV prevention/education for five community-based initiatives will be discontinued at the end of 2012, leaving community-based funding solely for HIV testing and retaining people living with HIV in medical care.

 “I think community-based HIV primary prevention should be the foundation of Rhode Island’s public health strategy to eliminate HIV. Individuals in at-risk communities must understand what puts them at risk for HIV and learn ways to protect themselves. It costs about $400,000 in lifetime medical costs for people who are infected with HIV. It only makes sense for Rhode Island to invest in efforts that help people lead healthy lives and save in HIV-related health care costs,” says Aida Manduley, sexual health advocate, Sojourner House.

Bertrand points to Massachusetts as an example of how an investment in community-based HIV prevention/education can pay off. “In recent years Massachusetts has invested about five times more per capita than Rhode Island in HIV prevention at the community level, and their overall rate of new HIV infections has dropped about 46% since 2000. During that same time, Rhode Island has only seen a 16% decline. I think we can do better in Rhode Island, but it will require leadership by community groups, government agencies, and elected officials,” says Bertrand.

Rhode Island HIV Prevention Member Agencies:

 • Abbot Virology
• AIDS Care Ocean State
• AIDS Project Rhode Island, a division of Family Service of RI
• Bristol Myers Squib
 • Brown University LGBTQ Center
• Brown University Health Education
• Brown University AIDS Program
• The Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health
• Center for AIDS Research
• Gilead
• JSI Research & Training Institute, Inc.
• Housing Action of Rhode Island
• Jannsen
• Lifespan’s Hasbro Children’s Hospital PediII Clinic
• Miriam Hospital, Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research
• Pawtucket Prevention Coalition
• Planned Parenthood for Southern New England
• Project Renew
• Sojourner House
• ViiV Healthcare • Youth Pride, Inc.
• YWCA of Northern Rhode Island.

World AIDS Day Event

The Rhode Island HIV Prevention Coalition is holding a World AIDS Day event at the Rhode Island Statehouse on Friday, November 30 from noon to 2 p.m.

AIDS Project RI, a division of Family Service of RI, is one of the members of the coalition, which, by the way, has a Facebook page.

You're invited to help raise awareness of HIV/AIDS by joining us. Please pass along this information!