In 1998,Florida Department of Health launched We Make The Change — a statewide campaign designed to increase the awareness of HIV and or AIDS and its impact on local minority communities all around the world.
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The Department of Health utilizes the campaign to inform and educate Florida's African-American, Hispanic, and Haitian/Caribbean, communities about prevention programs and services that can help fight the spread of HIV. The goal is to encourage people to get tested and know their HIV status.
As part of the campaign, Floridians can text their zip code from any location in the state to "477493" to receive contact information for the nearest testing center. All text messages are anonymous and confidential. The Florida hotline (800.FLA.AIDS) also provides HIV/AIDS-related information, community referrals, and supportive counseling. Hotline services are also available in Spanish (800.545.SIDA) and Creole (800.AIDS.101).
Initiatives
Stop the Spread was introduced by the State of Florida in 2007 as part of the African-American Testing Initiative (AATI), a program focused primarily on reaching non-Hispanic blacks unaware of their HIV infection. The objectives of the initiative include: promoting HIV testing as a routine part of overall health care; encouraging HIV testing in health care settings; and helping local testing centers increase HIV testing.
Sistas Organizing to Survive (SOS)' is a grassroots mobilization of black women in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Launched on June 20, 2008, the movement aims to mobilize and empower black women to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The goal is to test 100,000 black women by 2010. To date, eight local SOS conferences have been conducted, more than 4,000 people have taken the online pledge, and 88,000-plus black women have been tested.
Latinas Unidas Contra el SIDA (LUCES) is dedicated to empowering Hispanic and Haitian/Caribbean communities to develop healthy lifestyles though information, education, and advocacy. The initiative offers tools to connect Latina women to HIV/AIDS resources; increase the capacity of Latina women to build effective responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in local communities; and strengthen Latina women’s ability to take charge of their sexual health.
Man Up seeks to mobilize men to eliminate their risk of acquiring or transmitting HIV/AIDS. A report released on September 1, 2009, revealed that 1 in 123 adult men in Florida was living with HIV/AIDS through 2008. The Bureau of HIV/AIDS encourages men to "man up" and take responsibility for the consequences of their sexual actions and other HIV risk behaviors. The goal is to stimulate the development and implementation of community action plans.
The Department of Health’s faith-based initiative aims to educate and mobilize pastors in addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Florida’s black communities. Florida is the first and only state to have an organized partnership with a faith-based group — the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Churches — in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The goal is to have a designated HIV testing site in each of Florida’s 67 counties.
Publications
The Florida Department of Health, Bureau of HIV/AIDS has published a series of reports that focus on various key demographic groups at increased risk for HIV/AIDS. The series includes Silence is Death (2006), which addresses blacks; Out in the Open (2007), which addresses MSM; Sistas Organizing to Survive (2008), which focuses on women; and Man Up (2009), which focuses on men. These reports can be found at www.floridaaids.org. The End