Virtual education event marks African, Caribbean, Black Canadian HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
February 7 is national African, Caribbean, Black Canadian HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, and the Caribbean Association of Grande Prairie (CAGP) has partnered with Northreach Society to hold a virtual education event to mark the day.
The virtual event will provide basic HIV/AIDS knowledge and education, draw attention to the transmission of the virus, provide information on treatment and the available supports that can be found in Grande Prairie, and provide facts to dispell stigmas and remove fears surrounding the virus.
Shannae Luke, the Chair of the CAGP, says one of the big stigmas they hope to address has to do with the assumption of black people being associated with so-called ‘AIDS countries.’
“There’s lots of African countries where there has been a lot of cases of people having HIV/AIDS, and there might be some stigma associated with black people because of that,” says Luke.