The federal government recently released a new National HIV/AIDS Strategy, a coordinated plan for how the country will battle a disease that affects over 1 million Americans, including more than 20,000 in Louisiana. The key goals of the strategy are reducing new infections by 25% by 2015, getting treatment for patients within 3 months of diagnosis, and increasing educational outreach efforts. Connecting patients with treatment will help prevent spreading HIV, and to this end, the new strategy calls for increasing the number of providers of clinical care for HIV/AIDS nationally. Click here to read more. Click here for a PDF version of the complete National HIV/AIDS Strategy.

To help fight HIV/AIDS here in Louisiana, go out to diner on July 15th at one of the 60 New Orleans restaurants that will be donating 25% of their profits to the NO/AIDS Task Force, a non-profit that runs an HIV clinic and helps provide home delivered meals, housing, mental health services, and peer support to HIV positive people in the New Orleans and Houma/Thibodaux areas. Click here for a full list of participating restaurants. Click here for more information on NO/AIDS.

ViiV Healthcare announced that it will be offering grants of up to $50,000 per year to community organizations fighting HIV/AIDS and providing treatment to African-American and Latino communities in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Mississippi. The new program is called the Positive Action U.S. Southern Initiative and it will help established organizations enhance their programs to address social, societal, and structural barriers to HIV/AIDS care and treatment. Letters of Intent for the grants are due on July 30, 2010. Click here to read the full press release. Click here for more information on the initiative, including how to submit a Letter of Intent.

The Test 1 Million campaign kicked-off a Louisiana tour on Sunday, June 27 in Shreveport, and will travel around the state this week providing free HIV testing in African-American communities. The tour is run by the Black AIDS Institute and the Louisiana Office of Public Health and is part of a national campaign to promote HIV testing, personal knowledge about HIV status, and action towards eliminating the disease. The tour will make stops in Alexandria, Lake Charles, Opelousas, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. Click here to read more. Click here for a flyer with dates and locations of each tour stop.

Today is World AIDS Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about HIV and AIDS around the world. In 2006, Louisiana ranked 5th highest in AIDS case rates and 12th in the number of AIDS cases diagnosed - Baton Rouge and Greater New Orleans continue to lead the rest of the state in HIV/AIDS-related rates. Getting tested and knowing your HIV status is crucial. This site allows you to find a testing center in your area by zip code.

Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a sexually transmitted disease known to cause genital warts and/or cervical cancer, isn’t just a concern for women. The virus can also cause genital warts and penile and/or anal cancers in men as well. Of the 6 million new cases of HPV in the United States each year, 74% occur in 15 to 24 year olds. Learn more about HPV and resources for getting vaccinated, tested and treated from the American Social Health Association.

September is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Ovarian cancer is one of the most deadly of women’s cancers, claiming the lives of close to 16,000 women each year. Many women don’t seek medical help until the disease has begun to spread, but if detected at its earliest stage, the five-year survival rate is more than 93%. Knowing the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer can be crucial for early detection. Learn the signs in this video.

Gardasil, the vaccine for Human Papillomavirus (HPV), a virus that can cause genital warts and even cervical cancer in women, has been available for girls and young women for a few years. Now, the FDA has approved the same vaccine for boys and young men ages 9-26. Read more about the FDA panel decision, as well as the health risks HPV poses to boys.

College is the first place where many young adults begin experimenting with sex. This site offers a wealth of information for college students on safe sex practices, pregnancy and STD prevention and even how to deal with the deep emotional issues that accompany a sexually active lifestyle. You can also visit www.hiv411.org for Louisiana’s one-stop resource for HIV/AIDS information and support.

As of 2008, close to 29,000 people were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Louisiana, with the highest concentration in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. The Louisiana HIV/AIDS Program has launched a comprehensive one stop shot website for information on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing and treatment. www.hiv411.org allows you to find a testing center in your area, get tips on how to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS and even find legal services specifically designed to assist persons living with HIV/AIDS. Learn more about recent Louisiana HIV figures from The Advocate.

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that almost 40 percent of people infected with HIV are unaware of their condition until it develops into AIDS. In Louisiana, six parishes are among 72 counties across the country with the highest rate of people living with HIV or AIDS. Early detection of the disease is important because it allows for more effective treatment options. Watch the video above for advice about getting tested and visit this page to enter your zip code to find HIV testing locations in your part of the state.