This year, August 25 is National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NFHAAD). Founded in 2017 by Reaching All HIV+ Muslims in America (RAHMA), NFHAAD is an opportunity to celebrate the faith-based organizations (FBOs) that work towards building HIV awareness, mobilizing communities to seek prevention, testing, or treatment, and reducing HIV-related stigma.
FBOs are in a unique position to encourage their congregations to get tested, seek care, and remain virally suppressed due to their ability to shape their parishioner’s knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors through common religious beliefs.
The Black Church, in particular, has been instrumental in raising awareness about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Despite initial disapproval of LGBTQ+ individuals, many Black churches have come to embrace people living with HIV/AIDS. In 1980, 50 churches participated in the first Black Church Week of Prayer for Healing AIDS. 10 years later, 5,000 churches held worship services, lectures, and concerts during the 1999 Week of Prayer to bring attention to HIV/AIDS in Black communities.
Join AIDSVu in recognizing this awareness day with the materials below.
#NFHAAD
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AIDSVu’s infographics encourage new ways of visualizing the HIV epidemic in the faith community. Share the infographic from our 2023 collaboration with Gilead’s COMPASS Initiative and Wake Forest University’s School of Divinity on social media, print it as a one-pager, and add it to your presentations.
Infographic
Update your LinkedIn, Facebook, and X banners to show your support for #NFHAAD.
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Share these social media posts and infographics on LinkedIn, X, and Facebook with #NFHAAD to help spark conversations about HIV in the Southern region of the U.S.
Post 1
August 25 is National Faith HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, dedicated to celebrating faith-based organizations that engage with the critical issues of #HIV testing, prevention, and treatment. This #NFHAAD, check out AIDSVu’s Deeper Look: HIV and the Faith Community to learn more about the history between the faith community and the HIV/AIDS epidemic: https://aidsvu.org/hiv-and-the-faith-community/
Post 2
#DYK? On AIDSVu, you can use our Faith-Based Organization (FBO) Locator to find open and affirming #HIV care near you. This #NFHAAD, explore our Deeper Look: HIV and the Faith Community to find #HIV services within your faith community: https://aidsvu.org/hiv-and-the-faith-community/
Post 3
People living with #HIV are members at approximately 10,000 congregations across the United States. In 2023, AIDSVu partnered with Dr. Allison Mathews and the COMPASS initiative to survey faith-based organizations about HIV programming in faith communities. Read more in AIDSVu’s Deeper Look: HIV and the Faith Community: https://aidsvu.org/hiv-and-the-faith-community/
Post 4
When #PEPFAR was announced in 2003, faith-based organizations (FBOs) played a crucial role in rolling out #HIV services. This #NFHAAD, learn more about the contributions that FBOs have made towards ending the HIV epidemic in AIDSVu’s Deeper Look: HIV and the Faith Community: https://aidsvu.org/hiv-and-the-faith-community/