Public HIV Testing?

By Rachel
June 20, 2007 - 5:03 AM

African-American celebrities get together to fight the AIDS epidemic.

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and the Black AIDS Institute are going to have a news conference on June 25, two days before the National HIV Testing Day. The event will bring together notable celebrities at the SAG headquarters in Hollywood.

During the conference, the celebrities will be taking public HIV tests. According to the organizations, African-Americans account for half of the new cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. AIDS is the number one killer of African-American women between the ages of 25 and 34. Overall, African-Americans are seven times more likely to die from AIDS than any other group that is at risk.

Among the celebrities that are scheduled to participate are CSI: New York's Hill Harper (Dr Sheldon Hawkes), Gloria Reuben (ER, Life Support), Howard Hesseman (WKRP in Cincinnati), Nick Cannon (MTV's Wild 'n Out), Vanessa A. Williams (Soul Food) and Jimmy Jean-Louis (Heroes). The founder of the Black AIDS Institute, Phil Wilson, will also be a part of the event. The news conference is part of a campaign to end the AIDS epidemic among African-Americans by the year 2012.