Marion Barry joins American Public Health Association members and community leaders to advocate for jobs, housing, drug treatment and youth programs

Faced with one of the worst HIV/AIDS epidemics in the country, DC community members have organized a day of events on Saturday, November 3, 2007, to demand change and encourage local activism.

Led by DC Fights Back (DCFB) and the Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association (MWPHA), participants will meet at 12:00 pm at the corner of MLK Avenue, SE and Malcolm X Avenue, SE and march to the Washington Highlands Library at 115 Atlantic Street, SE by 2:00. At the Washington Highlands Library, Marion Barry will join other city officials, local residents, American Federal Government Employees Union Local 12, HIV Activists and American Public Health Association (APHA) meeting participants to Speak Out on HIV/AIDS.

The march and speak out will demand that the DC Government develop a comprehensive strategy to combat the factors, including a lack of jobs and affordable housing, that have led to the epidemic.

"We are marching East of the River because we believe that the people and communities most affected by the epidemic must always be at the forefront of policy efforts aimed at a solution,” said George Kerr, co-chair of DC Fights Back. “Further, we know that the fight against HIV cannot be separated from the fight for basic human and economic rights."

Following its tradition of involvement in leading public health issues at national conferences, MWPHA with DCFB, invited the APHA to participate and engage in direct action to aid local efforts to fight HIV/AIDS and begin to remedy health disparities.

The community dialogue continues and expands what began in May when over 100 community members gathered for the first Speak Out to develop a plan of action to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

About D.C. Fights Back:

DC Fights Back is a network of people living with HIV/AIDS and their allies working to engage our communities and ourselves in every aspect of HIV advocacy to ensure the best possible treatment and care for people living with HIV/AIDS; and the best possible science-based HIV prevention

About the Metropolitan Public Health Association:

The Metropolitan Washington Public Health Association is the local chapter of the American Public Health Association. The American Public Health Association is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world and has been working to improve public health since 1872. The Association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States. APHA represents a broad array of health professionals and others who care about their own health and the health of their communities.

Download the flyer for this event