Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Columbus Dispatch (12.01.08) - Thursday, December 18, 2008
Sherri Williams
Starting in early 2009, the Columbus Urban League plans to launch a Facebook page dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention information. In addition, CUL volunteers will sign up young people at city recreation centers to receive cell phone messages that provide them with facts about the virus as well as locations for free testing, said Iris Velasco, an HIV/AIDS specialist with the organization.
"The strategy is to use technology that they use already, have access to, and give them something helpful," said Velasco.
Dr. Michael Para, an AIDS specialist at the Ohio State University Medical Center, said such targeted outreach is critical. Most young people have no memory of the early days of the epidemic and the havoc it wrought. HIV/AIDS is not in news as much, so teens' exposure to information about the virus is limited, he said.
"The information isn't getting out there like it used to," said Eddie Jones, executive director of the Tobias Project, an AIDS service organization that targets the African-American community. "People think it has gone away because no one is talking about it. If we don't talk about it, the kids won't think it's a big deal either."
The need for youth-oriented HIV/AIDS prevention outreach is great, most educators agree. From 2001 to 2006, HIV infection rates among 15- to 24-year-olds in Franklin County increased 43 percent.
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