World Aids Day 2016 takes place on December 1. It's a day to promote awareness and encourage people to get tested while supporting people with HIV.
Elizabeth Sanchez is a mother, a grandmother and a heterosexual Latina. She is also the “new” face of HIV/AIDS in Massachusetts.
“When I tell people I have HIV, they say you don’t look like you have it,” Sanchez said.
A new statewide initiative called “Getting to Zero Massachusetts” is setting three goals for 2030: 0 new HIV infections, 0 AIDS related death and 0 stigma related to HIV/AIDS.
In Boston and statewide HIV diagnosis are down 31 percent since 2010, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
But HIV is on the rise for women of color.
Black women are diagnosed with HIV at a rate 33-times higher than White women; Latinas 12 times higher.
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Christopher Brennan from the AIDS Action Coalition, worked to create the “Getting to Zero” campaign.
Brennan says they're “looking at the way that HIV has transformed over the years.”
Brennan says a major part of “Getting to Zero” is getting information to minority communities about PrEP or pre-exposure prophylaxis. It’s a daily pill that effectively prevents HIV infection.
