More than 30 years into the HIV/AIDS epidemic, black women remain among the hardest hit, and the hardest to reach about prevention.
So a determined Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has launched an aggressive awareness campaign in Fort Lauderdale and nine other U.S. cities to urge this vulnerable population to take "take charge" of their health and get tested.
Armed with free testing, a litany of radio, outdoor and transit ads, and information distributed in salons, stores, churches and other venues where black women frequent, "Take Charge. Take the Test" hopes to put a dent in some daunting statistics: One in 32 black women will contract HIV/AIDS in their lifetime, compared to one in 106 Latinas and one in 526 white women.
Few areas of the country understand that better, or are a more fitting target, than South Florida, where Miami-Dade County ranks first, Broward ranks second and Palm Beach County ranks sixth in the nation for the highest number of new AIDS cases per capita, statistics show. Black women are among the fastest growing population of new cases in all three counties.
