Health

The Alzheimer’s Association announced the launch of its first-ever Spanish-language radio and print PSAs as a call to action for Latinos – particularly the almost 8 million Hispanic baby boomers – to take steps now to reduce their risks of developing Alzheimer’s disease. As the newest element of the Association’s ongoing Maintain Your Brain consumer education effort, “Síntomas” includes radio and print public service announcements exclusively in Spanish.

The US Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) latest national Spanish-English language HIV PSA campaign was launched this October to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS in the Latino community and to promote prevention, testing and treatment.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign today joined with the National Medical Association, National PTA and the National AfterSchool Association to unveil a new advertising campaign aimed at helping African American parents take action to prevent youth drug use.

Univision Communications Inc. announced the one-year anniversary of “¡Salud es Vida… Entérate!” (Lead a healthy life…Get the facts!). This integrated cross-platform health education initiative is aimed at promoting healthy lifestyles, encouraging illness prevention, and providing motivational encouragement for early detection and aggressive management of key health conditions in order to address the significant disparities in health afflictions and health care faced by Latinos of all ages in the U.S. today.

More than 100 creative and programming directors from 35 media companies, leading media figures and non-government organizations from around the world are met at the United Nations Headquarters to exchange ideas on how to incorporate HIV/AIDS messages into short- and long-form programming. This first-ever global creative meeting on HIV/AIDS builds on the efforts of the Global Media AIDS Initiative, launched in January 2004 by the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, and was organized by Viacom, MTV Networks International, the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS), and the United Nations Department of Information (UNDPI).

World AIDS Day – the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization, called for an intensified commitment by government, community-based health organizations, and the Hispanic community to HIV/AIDS prevention as new HIV/AIDS cases continue to increase in the Hispanic community, particularly among Latino youth. As with many other health issues affecting the Latino community, new increases in HIV infection rates and the disease’s disproportionate impact when compared to non-Hispanic Whites, can be traced to a lack of culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV/AIDS prevention information, a high rate of uninsurance, and an overall lack of health-related resources.

Nearly half of the 37.2 million HIV-positive adults ages 15 to 49 worldwide are women, and the number of HIV-positive women in all regions of the world has been increasing over the past two years, according to a report released by UNAIDS and the World Health Organization.

The World AIDS Campaign 2004 seeks to address the way women’s inequality helps fuel the transmission of HIV and increases the impact of AIDS. Campaign posters have been developed to give a voice to women facing the challenges of gender inequality in the face of HIV and AIDS.

The World Health Organization declared the first World AIDS Day in 1988. The day, 1 December, quickly became established as one of the world’s most successful commemorative days and is now recognized and celebrated by a diverse range of constituents every year around the globe.