National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Update from The Office on Women’s Health (OWH)

Dear Colleague,
As the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health - Women’s Health, it is my pleasure to announce our 6th annual observance of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Since March 10, 2006, the Office on Women’s Health (OWH) has lead local and national efforts to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS and its impact on women and girls. Nearly 300,000 women in the United States are infected with HIV/AIDS and they continue to face gaps in access to care. Women are the foundations of many families, but we often place the needs of others before our own. National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day asks individuals and organizations across the country to increase the overall knowledge of HIV/AIDS among women and girls and improve access to care.

Each year OWH has developed a theme for our federal, community, and public partners to promote. I am excited to announce this year’s theme, created in partnership with The Greater Than AIDS Campaign, “Every moment is a deciding moment”. To increase promotion of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, OWH will ask its YouTube channel subscribers and Facebook and Twitter followers to upload video or submit messages describing their deciding moments for being Greater than AIDS. In addition to this exciting partnership, OWH is reissuing its clock poster based on the latest CDC surveillance data. The poster’s new slogan states, “Every 47 minutes a woman tests positive for HIV in the United States. It’s time to get tested”. Please encourage your partners to visit our website, http://www.womenshealth.gov/nwghaad  and download the poster to show support of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

You can also support National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day by engaging in one or more of the following:

• Visit our website to find a National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day activity or event being health in your area. If you’re considering holding your own event, please register it.
• Visit The Greater Than AIDS website for National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day materials and “promote the Day” throughout your networks.
• Show your support of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day by placing the red ribbon logo as your profile picture for your social media pages on March 10.
• Post HIV/AIDS and women centered messages on Facebook and Twitter pages using the hashtag #NWGHAAD. Ask your subscribers to use the hashtag as well.
• Encourage friends and family members to get tested. Find a local testing site here.
• Download copies of posters and materials and place them on bulletin boards, doors, cubicles, or doctor’s offices.
• As an organization, you can issue a press release or statement about National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
• Get a proclamation issued for continued celebration and recognition of HIV/AIDS and women and girls.

In August 2011, the Affordable Care Act adopted female preventative health service guidelines to ensure that sexually active females receive HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) counseling without any cost sharing. This guideline will be implemented on August 1, 2012, by all new private health plans. Together, spreading awareness of HIV/AIDS and the new preventative counseling services can help shape the future of women and girls’ health.

I look forward to hearing about many of your exciting and innovative ideas to observe National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
Sincerely,
/s/
Nancy C. Lee, M.D.
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health-Women’s Health