The Latino Commission on AIDS ‘Construyendo Juntos’.

The Latino Commission on AIDS (the Commission) supported by the New York State AIDS Institute, will embark in developing a Statewide Network for Latino Gay, Bisexual and other Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) in New York – “Construyendo Juntos” (Building together) – with aims to promote networking opportunities and communication amongst community organizations, grassroots LGBT organizations, places of worship, and other social venues; and to increase their capacity to better serve the Latino Gay, Bisexual and MSM communities in New York State (NYS).

The years of experience working with the Hispanic community and HIV have demonstrated that HIV services to Hispanic populations are complicated by language issues, diverse ethnic backgrounds, immigration factors, discrimination and poverty. Of MSM in NYC, Hispanic MSM comprised 31.6% of those diagnosed with HIV in 2007 (compared to 29.3% of white non-Hispanics MSM). “Over three decades into the epidemic, Latino gay men still are disproportionately impacted by HIV and AIDS. Infection and AIDS deaths rates within this population keep rising in New York State. We need new initiatives that will reach and build Latino gay men’s social networks to increase their capacity to access care and critical services to reach healthy communities,” said Guillermo Chacón, President of the Latino Commission.

Bolívar X. Nieto, with over 13 years of experience on HIV program implementation, community advocacy, and Capacity Building Assistance nationwide will lead this exciting initiative. “Construyendo Juntos” will address topics such as AIDS-related stigma; working with faith-based organizations; organizational development, emerging research for Latino MSM; National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD); adapting Effective Behavioral Intervention for Latino MSM; multi-racial identity for Latino MSM, among others; and thus together build a solid Latino MSM network in collaboration with other communities of color to fill the gaps and address the needs of the Latino Gay, Bisexual, MSM community in New York State.