World AIDS Day - The Job Ahead of Us

World AIDS Day (December 1st) may be over, but our advocacy efforts and the ever present reality of AIDS are still very much with us.

It seems that World AIDS Day is the one day a year when people turn to social workers and those working in HIV/AIDS service organizations and say "so, how's it going?" We wish we could say "great."

Yes, there have been advancements in medicine and treatments, and we are getting the message out. But the message can be complicated: in the early days of prevention advocacy, we warned that everyone was at risk; now we're targeting disenfranchised populations. In targeting, we have the advantage of more person-to-person interactions, but too many individuals still think it could never happen to them.

Added to this, the cost of HIV infection is at least double-fold. The Director of the Centers for Disease Control recently testified before Congress that each HIV infection cost approximately 1 million dollars in treatment and lost productivity.

We encourage you to get involved year-round, personally and professionally. Have safer sex. Be blunt with your kids about safer sex. Introduce harm reduction strategies into your agency mission and practices. Look into needle exchanges in your area and be open to referring your clients there, if appropriate (NJ has a few now! Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, and Paterson). Talk to your friends about the reality of what you see in your work.

We've included a few links below to get you and/or your agency started on the path to HIV/AIDS Advocacy, and if you have other links or stories to share, please post them in a comment.

If you'd like to be involved in our NASW-NJ HIV/AIDS Special Interest Group, please click here.

For NASW Policy Statement on HIV/AIDS: http://www.socialworkers.org/resources/abstracts/abstracts/hiv.asp

For general information on World AIDS Day and advocacy: http://www.worldaidsday.org/

For a brief history of World AIDS Day: http://aidshiv.suite101.com/article.cfm/history_of_world_aids_day

For ideas on how to get schools involved in HIV advocacy: http://www.worldaidsday.org/get-involved/schools.aspx

And we'd be glad (as would others) to hear your thoughts here about preventing HIV/AIDS.