National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day 2009
February 7, 2009, marks the ninth annual National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). NBHAAD is a day dedicated to increasing awareness of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. The goals of NBHAAD are to educate African Americans about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted, to encourage them to get tested, to motivate HIV-infected African Americans to seek proper treatment, and to inspire people to get involved in their community.
Check out the updated Department of Health and Human Services' National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Web page, which includes helpful links to sites providing information on health disparities, HIV/AIDS statistics, and much more--all specific to African Americans.
AIDSinfo encourages you to participate in NBHAAD by sharing this information with others.
Negative Effect of HIV and HAART on Arteries
"HIV-infected patients using combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) have an increased cardiovascular risk. We aimed to identify the effects of HIV, ART, and lipodystrophy (LD) on carotid artery intima-media thickness (C-IMT), a surrogate measure of atherosclerosis, and arterial stiffness, a marker of cardiovascular risk. ... HIV infection is independently associated with C-IMT and generally increased arterial stiffness. ART use is associated with increased stiffness of the femoral artery."
