Increased "Dialogue" Needed in Black Community About HIV/AIDS, Opinion Piece Says

"HIV/AIDS has literally become a state of emergency in the Black community and our leaders, organizations and institutions can no longer afford to remain silent," Lisa Fager Bediako, project coordinator for the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's ACT! Against AIDS Leadership Initiative, writes in the Florida Courier. She continues, "Over the past three years that I have been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention and advocacy, one thing has become apparent: the crucial need for expanded dialogue about HIV/AIDS within the Black community." Bediako writes, "In order to reach a larger audience, we need to have hard conversations, creative outreach and committed support from leadership organizations and media outlets," concluding, "We cannot afford to ebb and flow our conversations of HIV/AIDS while this preventable disease continues to devastate our community" (Bediako, 7/10).

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