For Immediate Release
Monday, November 24, 2014
Press Contacts:
Mika De Roo (Housing Works) | 347-473-7436 | m.deroo@housingworks.org
Jennifer Flynn (VOCAL-NY) | 917-517-5202 | jennifer@vocal-ny.org
Megan Montalvo (NYC Health) | 347-396-4177 | PressOffice@health.nyc.gov
Cathy Renna (ACRIA) | 917-757-6123 |cathy@targetcue.com
Krishna Stone (GMHC) | 212-367-1016 | KrishnaS@GMHC.org
MEDIA ADVISORY
We can end AIDS by 2020
NYC World AIDS Day Coalition to Host Launch of the End AIDS NY 2020 Campaign
Community leaders, people living with HIV & AIDS, celebrities, and elected and city officials to speak at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater
New York, NY—On Monday, December 1 (World AIDS Day), the New York City World AIDS Day Coalition, consisting of over 40 AIDS-service and community-based organizations, medical providers, the NYC Council Speaker’s Office, and the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will host a community launch of the Governor’s Ending the Epidemic Campaign, a state plan to end AIDS in New York by the year 2020. The launch will take place at Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater and provide an opportunity for the general public to learn more about the campaign and how New Yorkers can help.
WHO:
Community leaders, people living with HIV & AIDS, celebrities, and elected and city officials including: MSNBC Anchor Thomas Roberts; Mayor Bill de Blasio; Senators Brad Hoylman, Daniel Squadron, and Gustavo Rivera; Assembly Members Richard Gottfried and Daniel O’Donnell; Council Members Corey Johnson, Danny Dromm, and Annabel Palma; Comptroller Scott Stringer; Public Advocate Letitia James; Health Commissioner Mary Bassett and Assistant Commissioner Demetre Daskalakis
WHAT:
NYC World AIDS Day Coalition Kick-Off of the End AIDS NY 2020 Campaign
WHEN:
World AIDS Day
Monday, December 1, 2014
10:00 am to 12:00 pm
Press set-up arrival time: 9:15 am
WHERE:
Harlem’s World Famous Apollo Theater
253 W. 125th Street
(between Frederick Douglass & Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevards)
WHY:
*Because We Can End AIDS in NY by 2020*—On October 14, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced members of a Task Force that will work to implement the plan to end the AIDS epidemic in New York. The Ending the Epidemic Task Force—whose work will be supplemented by two advisory groups in the near future—will support the effort to reduce the number of new HIV infections to 750 per year by 2020. Together, all three groups will consist of experts and community advocates from across New York and will perform public outreach and awareness campaigns in line with the Governor’s plan.
The three key groups charged with ending the epidemic are:
1. A Task Force, which has been established in support of Governor Cuomo’s three-point plan and will develop and issue recommendations as well as draft New York’s blueprint to end the epidemic. Four subcommittees will focus specifically on prevention, care, data, and housing and supportive services;
2. The Public Official Advisory Group, which will be made up of state and local public officials with significant interest and experience in HIV and AIDS who will be given the opportunity to provide feedback to the task force; and
3. The Public Awareness Ambassadors will be active LGBT and AIDS awareness advocates that will help raise awareness, promote the Governor’s plan, and reduce the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS.
The end of the AIDS epidemic in New York will occur when the total number of new HIV infections has fallen below the number of HIV-related deaths. In June, Governor Cuomo announced a three-point plan to decrease new HIV infections to the point where the number of people living with HIV in New York State is reduced for the first time by:
1. Identifying people with HIV who remain undiagnosed and linking them to health care;
2. Linking and retaining people diagnosed with HIV to health care and getting them on anti-HIV therapy to maximize HIV virus suppression so they remain healthy and prevent further transmission; and
3. Providing access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for high-risk people to keep them HIV negative.
RSVP:
Please RSVP before or on November 30 with one of the press contacts listed above. Photos and interviews are available at 9:30 am at the step-and-repeat area. At 10:00 am, photos and filming can also take place while the speaking program is in progress.
LIST OF ORGANIZATIONS-NYC WORLD AIDS DAY COALITION:
ACRIA • ACT UP NY • AID FOR AIDS • ALI FORNEY CENTER • AMIDA CARE • AREA • APICHA CHC • ARGUS COMMUNITY INC. • BAILEY HOUSE • BOOM!HEALTH • BROADWAY CARES/EQUITY FIGHTS AIDS • BROOKLYN COMMUNITY PRIDE CENTER • CALLEN-LORDE COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTER • DIASPORA • ELMCOR • EMPIRE STATE PRIDE AGENDA • END AIDS NOW • EXPONENTS • FEDERATION OF PROTESTANT WELFARE AGENCIES • GMAD • GMHC • GREATER THAN AIDS • HARLEM UNITED • HARM REDUCTION COALITION • HELP/PSI • HETRICK-MARTIN INSTITUTE • HISPANIC FEDERATION • HOUSING WORKS • IRIS HOUSE • LATINO COMMISSION ON AIDS • LEGAL ACTION CENTER • LGBT CENTER / THE CENTER • MANHATTAN LEGAL SERVICES • MORRIS HEIGHTS HEALTH CENTER • MOUNT SINAI HEALTH SYSTEM • NATIONAL BLACK LEADERSHIP COMMISSION ON AIDS • NYC COUNCIL LGBT CAUCUS • NY HARM REDUCTION EDUCATORS • NYC COUNCIL SPEAKERS OFFICE • NYC HEALTH • PRAXIS • TREATMENT ACTION GROUP (TAG) • TRANSLATINA NETWORK • VILLAGECARE • VISUAL AIDS • VOCAL-NY • WASHINGTON HEIGHTS CORNER PROJECT • WYCKOFF HEIGHTS MEDICAL CENTER
DOWNLOADABLE PDFs of THE EVENT FLYER IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH:
Housing Works World AIDS Day 2014 CoalitionEvent FlyerSaveTheDate, English
Housing Works World AIDS Day 2014 CoalitionEvent FlyerSaveTheDate, Spanish
