Detroit Leaders Call for Action on AIDS in Minority Communities
The Detroit HIV Leadership Mobilization Initiative is working to decrease the spread of HIV among minority communities by "mobilizing leaders throughout local communities around issues relative to the disease," the Detroit News reports. The group held an "HIV Call to Action: Leadership Mobilization" summit on Tuesday and invited "leaders from agencies not ordinarily affiliated with HIV/AIDS" to address these issues and develop specific strategies on how to become more involved. At the event, Mayor Dennis Archer and leaders from "the corporate community, civic leaders and the faith community" spoke about the "need for wider participation" in combatting AIDS. Felix Sirls, an HIV counselor at Wayne State University and the Detroit Health Department, said, "We are at war, and the only way to fight it is with education. Secrets kill, and with HIV, secrets kill completely." According to the Detroit Health Department, 6,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS in the city and another 2,000 are infected but are not seeking treatment (Lewis, Detroit News, 5/9).
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