Department of Health and Human Services focuses on empowering Black community during awareness day | Spokane News

SPOKANE, Wash.- The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) is promoting National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day this Feb. 7. 

The annual tradition, which was founded in 1999, is meant to destigmatize conversations about HIV/AIDS in Black communities. 

Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and Northern Idaho highlighted the national event on social media. 

HHS, which offered a webinar entitled “Engage, Educate, Empower: Uniting to End HIV/AIDS in Black Communities,” states that the day highlights the need for better treatment and access for Black patients in the American healthcare system. 

“Black communities have made great progress in reducing HIV. Yet racism, discrimination, and mistrust in the health care system may affect whether Black people seek or receive HIV prevention services,” HHS said. 

According to a 2019 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Black Americans account for the highest percentage of people living with HIV in the United States, at about forty percent. 

The Office of Minority Health reports that Black Americans were approximately eight times more likely to be diagnosed with HIV than their white peers. 

This data, combined with the reality that Black communities have less access to quality healthcare, makes HIV-AIDS a public health challenge toward which the HHS dedicates prevention efforts each year. 

More information on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day can be found at the National Institutes of Health Office of AIDS Research website.