North Central Health District

Macon-Bibb County Health Department to Host World AIDS Day Awareness Event to Encourage HIV Prevention Through PrEP  

Posted November 22, 2022 by Michael Hokanson

Macon-Bibb County Health Department will host a World AIDS Day awareness event to educate the community on prevention and testing resources.

The event is meant to raise awareness, share education on prevention and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) and remember those lost to AIDS.  

The awareness event will include drag performances, testimonials, free resources and information and HIV testing.  

World AIDS Day, observed on December 1, is an international day dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection and mourning those who have died of the disease.  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, in 2020, 30,635 people received an HIV diagnosis in the United States. HIV remains a persistent public health problem in the United States. While great progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV, there is still much to do.  

AIDS/HIV Statistics (CDC):  

• An estimated 1,189,700 people in the United States had HIV at the end of 2019. Of those people, about 87% knew they had HIV. 
• In 2020, male-to-male sexual contact accounted for 68% of all new HIV diagnoses in the United States.  In the same year, heterosexual contact accounted for 22% of all HIV diagnoses. 
• Black/African American people are most affected by HIV. In 2020, Black/African American people accounted for 42% (12,827) of all new HIV diagnoses. Additionally, Hispanic/Latino people are also strongly affected. They accounted for 27% (8,285) of all new HIV diagnoses. 

Macon-Bibb County Health Department’s World AIDS Day event will be on Tuesday Dec. 6, 2022, at 5 p.m. at the Douglass Theatre, 355 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Macon.  

For more information, visit: NCHD52.org/HIV.