AIDS Walk L.A.
Raises money for APLA
WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif.—About 30,000 people, including celebrities and elected officials, raised almost $2.9 million for research and AIDS patient assistance at the AIDS Walk Los Angeles.
A big crowd turned out in drizzly, gray skies at West Hollywood Park to raise funds to help treat and care for people living with AIDS/HIV. Since 1985, the event has raised about $66 million for AIDS Project Los Angeles (APLA), one of the largest nonprofit AIDS service organizations in the country.
"We are deeply grateful to our 30,000 participants for raising $2,878,711 for L.A. County's fight against AIDS,'' said organizer Craig R. Miller, the event's founder and producer.
"Over 26 years, we have never lost sight of our prime objective: to create an event unparalleled in its ability to inspire tens of thousands to take action,'' he said.
Schoolchildren and celebrities were among those marching, as were some people who marched in the first AIDS Walk in 1986.
One of the pioneers recalled getting booed at by bystanders when a group of 4,000 people, most of them gay activists, marched down West Hollywood sidewalks at the first AIDS Walk.
Evidence is mounting that it is possible to control the virus that causes AIDS with early treatment, so further therapy is not immediately needed.
A recent study in the journal PLOS Pathogens reports that 14 patients with HIV, who received antiretroviral treatment within 10 weeks of infection, had their viral loads decreased so much that scientists say they are “functionally cured.”
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Basketball legend Earvin "Magic" Johnson received the inaugural World AIDS Day Magic Award from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation Sunday at Staples Center, honoring his work raising awareness about HIV and AIDS prevention, care and treatment.
Johnson, who announced in 1991 that he tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS, is the founder and chairman of the nonprofit Magic Johnson Foundation, whose mission includes making donations to community-based organizations that focus on HIV/AIDS education and prevention.
World AIDS Day is Dec. 1, and on that Wednesday, organizations, HIV/AIDS research supporters, and activists will rally in the name of safe sex and virus awareness. HIV/AIDS is epidemic among Blacks globally and has taken on a monstrous face that is killing us at an alarming rate.
In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control noted that 18,328 African Americans were diagnosed with AIDS adding to the more than 400,000 diagnosis since the discovery of the syndrome.
California was the leading region in the U.S. in 2008 with the most AIDS diagnosis.
The recent news in Tulsa, Oklahoma, brings to light an issue that is rare, but nonetheless important — cross infection in the dental office, or the transfer of infection from one patient to another in a health care environment.
The unfortunate reality is that you, as the consumer, have very little chance of knowing what’s going on — it’s a huge trust relationship. Cross contamination is literally invisible because it’s caused by microbes invisible to the human eye, so only the professionals can guarantee that it doesn’t happen.
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Free HIV testing will be offered and panel discussions will be held in Los Angeles County in connection with Saturday’s 25th observance of World AIDS Day, whose theme is “Working Together for an AIDS-Free Generation.”
Free HIV testing will be offered noon-6 p.m. at L.A. Live, 3-5 p.m. at the AIDS Monument in Lincoln Park in Lincoln Heights and 7-11 p.m. at the Sweet Dreams Dessert Lounge in Whittier.
