The Southern Arizona Aids Foundation is inviting young people downtown to eat, play games, and learn about HIV/AIDS in advance of National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.
“This whole event is about providing voice and empowering youth to be able to make decisions and advocate for what they need, to feel empowered around their health and the health of their peers, to feel engaged and try to eliminate the stigma around HIV,” says Michael Webb, a prevention specialist with SAAF who is organizing the free event.
The event is for people between the ages of 13 and 24. It will be held Friday, April 8 at La Pilita Cultural Center, 420 S. Main Ave.
“Having this as a youth-only event is to empower the youth and give them ownership. It’s not an event for adults,” Webb says. “However we do encourage youth to bring a trusted adult if that’s the way they need to get there.” Webb says this is often necessary for youngsters in foster care, for example, or living in a group home, or who simply don’t have transportation for themselves.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2010 stated youth ages 13-24 accounted for 26 percent of new HIV infections annually, and were contracting HIV at the rate of 1,000 new infections a month. They are also unlikely to be tested, and about 60 percent of youth living with HIV don’t know it. In Pima County, 103 new cases across all age groups were diagnosed in 2014.
“We’re seeing more and more people who are under the age of 18, so from 13 to 18, being diagnosed,” said Jai Smith, program manager for SAAF’s Youth Life Project which focuses on sexual and dating violence prevention.
Smith says part of those increasing numbers is from expanding services and information programs so that people under 18 are better informed about being able to be tested without parental consent.
“I feel like there’s been a lot of information going out into our community about self-efficacy and advocacy and taking ownership over sexual health,” Smith says. Events like the one on Friday, and National Youth HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on April 10, are part of that effort.
Free HIV testing and counseling will be available at the event, and community partners including Planned Parenthood will set up tables and have been encouraged to plan activities and games.
Webb says there will be a clear focus, but it won’t just be a bunch of tables with pamphlets.
“The idea is not to bombard youth about risk, the idea is that this is a day to come and feel freely to be yourself, to feel empowered and to build community. And the way to do that is to keep it plain and simple, to make it fun.” Webb says.
