Welcome to National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day (NYHAAD)! Today is all about highlighting that HIV & AIDS impacts young people (ages 13-24 specifically), and also to urge policy makers and everyday people to take action to support HIV prevention, treatment and care.  Join us and thousands of accounts across the country in posting online using #NYHAAD today! We even have this handy Social Media Toolkit to make it easy.

Yesterday's briefing on Capitol Hill with Congressional staffers, policy leaders, and administration officials was a resounding success. We even got a visit from Francisco Rodriguez, the Biden Administration's new Director of National AIDS Policy!  Check out our Instagram for photos and updates.

Preparing for tomorrow!

Tomorrow, on the last day of our Week of Action, we’re excited to amplify a medical education series for healthcare professionals, Paths Forward in PrEP: Overcoming Barriers to PrEP Engagement in Adolescents, on the unique barriers young people face when accessing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP).

Can we count on you to share the series and help us get it into the hands of as many healthcare professionals as possible?

The best way to do this is to join us online this Thursday to post about the medical education series using the hashtag #NYHAAD. Here’s a link with graphics and sample posts to send to your social media team today!

• Why is this important? Young people (13-24 years of age) have unique barriers to PrEP access, including a lack of awareness and medically accurate HIV education, insurance coverage, and affordable care. In addition, they’re worried about confidentiality, whether their provider will be aware of PrEP, and stigma. All of these compound and they either delay or fall out of care.
   
• So how do we solve it? All healthcare professionals who interact with adolescents have the opportunity to decrease HIV incidence in young adults. This medical education series offers healthcare professionals the opportunity to identify barriers, assess regimen options, and implement strategies to improve PrEP uptake. We advocated to ensure that young people can access contraception, and we can do the same with PrEP!

Prepare for Thursday on Social Media: The medical education series is a comprehensive resource featuring information and resources designed to equip healthcare professionals to better support young people impacted by HIV. So we need YOU to help us get it to as many people as possible.

Go here to get all the social media graphics and sample posts you need to promote the series this Thursday, April 11.

One more thing Remember to use #NYHAAD and #StopHIVTogether in all your posts this week. We want anyone checking either popular hashtag to be able to see your awesome content.

Thank you for everything,

Armonte Butler
Associate Director, LGBTQ Health & Rights
Advocates for Youth

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