Iowa: Youth Center to Promote HIV/AIDS Awareness

Iowa City's teen group United Action for Youth is hosting several events this week to mark National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which is Tuesday. The disease is very much in this country, not just Africa, said Kim Lamon, UAY's teen health educator. A 2004 CDC report revealed HIV/AIDS as the leading cause of death for US black women ages 25-34.

On Monday, Lamon will be one of several panel members to discuss HIV prevention, treatment, and resources following a screening of "Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" at the Iowa City Public Library. Panelists will include representatives from the Emma Goldman Clinic and ICare.

"In Iowa City, we're so lucky when it comes to resources and education, but because there's so many [organizations], it's hard to know what's out there," Lamon said. "This will let people know what's out there and who does what."

UAY will also exhibit panels from the AIDS Memorial Quilt at its office on 410 Iowa Ave., an event made possible through a National Office of Women's Health grant. In addition, a UAY teen group, Rhinestone Cowgirls, will present a puppet show about basic HIV/AIDS facts to fifth- and sixth-graders at Wood Elementary. Members will create mini-memorial quilt squares of their own.

On March 11, UAY will host a health fair and a concert featuring high school musicians. Fair collaborators also include the Emma Goldman Clinic, Planned Parenthood, ICare, and Johnson County Public Health.

"When it comes to HIV/AIDS and how it affects women, we have a ways to go," said Eva Brummel, a regional educator with Planned Parenthood in Iowa City who will be on Monday's panel. "I don't think people know it affects heterosexual women," she said.

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