AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 18 by participating in the MLK Day parade in South Los Angeles and hosting free HIV awareness and testing events in nearly a dozen U.S. cities around the country. The organization’s new bus wrapped in the message “AIDS Is A Civil Rights Issue” was unveiled at the parade.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s new bus debuted at the MLK Day parade on Monday in South Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of AHF)

As African American and Latino communities continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS in the United States, AHF advocates are promoting the message HIV/AIDS is a civil rights issue and that access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS should be a universal human right.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African Americans account for 44 percent of people with HIV/AIDS in the United States, yet only account for 12 percent of the population. Latinos account for 21 percent of all new HIV infections nationwide, yet represent only 16 percent of the U.S. population.

“One of the most enduring legacies of Martin Luther King Jr. is the way he encouraged everyday citizens to take a stand in their communities for social justice and equal access to jobs, economic opportunity, housing and health care,” said Christopher Johnson, chair of the AHF Black AIDS Crisis Taskforce. “Despite the strides we’ve made in many important socioeconomic areas, statistics show that HIV/AIDS is ravaging black and brown families from coast to coast today, especially in the Southeast where stigma and lack of access to care remain major factors to overcome. From the streets of Atlanta to the halls of Congress, we must keep pressure on our local, state and national elected leaders to direct needed funding and resources to those who are on the frontlines in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the communities of color.”

AHF contends that disproportionately high numbers of HIV/AIDS cases among communities of color may be caused by numerous factors, including a lack of access to clinics for care and HIV testing, as well as to condoms and safer sex educational opportunities. Stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS also exists in the communities, preventing people from learning their HIV status or from seeking care and speaking honestly with their sexual partners if they know they are positive. AHF representatives said society and the healthcare industry have marginalized members of the communities because of sexual orientation and race, blocking essential treatment, care and education.

For information, visit www.aidshealth.org.