BP MARKOWITZ HERALDS LAUNCH OF HIV AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
FOR CENTRAL BROOKLYN WOMEN OF COLOR

10:45 A.M.
MONDAY, JULY 31
BROOKLYN BOROUGH HALL ROTUNDA
209 JORALEMON STREET
BETWEEN COURT & ADAMS STREETS
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN

On Monday, July 31, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will join Dr. Marjorie Hill, Interim Executive Director of Gay Men’s Health Crisis (GMHC), and Laverne Patent, Peer Educator at the Women’s Institute at GMHC, to launch a new campaign to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic among women of color in Central Brooklyn.

GMHC’s Women’s Institute was formed to reach out to women in communities of need, and it’s new awareness campaign will provide women in Central Brooklyn, who are disproportionately at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS, with the best information on prevention, treatment, and care.

By 2010 women will account for 50% of all AIDS cases in New York City according to estimates by the Women’s HIV Collaborative of New York. Women of color comprise 89% of all women living with AIDS in New York City. Outpacing trends in New York City, HIV/AIDS is increasingly affecting women in Central Brooklyn, especially black women.

Borough President Markowitz is proud to join with GMHC to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS infection rates. Central Brooklyn is in a state of emergency, and the Borough President’s office will continue the fight to end the personal and governmental complacency that give rise to infection.