Help me attend the INT'L AIDS CONFERENCE - July 22nd-27th
Dear Friends,
I need your support. I am planning to be a
delegate at the International AIDS Conference this coming July 22-27 in our
nations capital, Washington D.C.
As I begin my Graduate Program to become a licensed
Marriage and Family Therapist, I feel it is imperative that I attend this
conference to enrich my knowledge of this is important health issue that is
important for my skill set and my educational enrichment. The AIDS epidemic is
an issue very close to my heart as I have many friends living with HIV and
AIDS. The knowledge and skills I will learn at this conference will aid me in
providing more informed services to our community.
This is a historical opportunity, as the
conference has not been in the United States since 1990, when it was in my home
city of San Francisco.
Please support me by making a donation today. I
am grateful for any amount you can donate to help me get attend this
conference. I will gladly take pocket change if thats what you are able to
donate! :) The registration fee's to attend the conference are very expensive.
Your donation will help pay for my very expensive registration fee's to attend
the conference and some travel related expenses. If you would like to help but
don't want to make a monetary donation, maybe you have some frequent flyer
miles sitting around. I would be happy to put those to good use. If have
frequent flyer miles and can help me with my airline ticket, that would be
greatly appreciated as well and will lower the amount I need to raise. Send me
an email if you do!
Remember, that what you give comes back to
you...one thousand fold. I know this from personal experience and that is why I
am confident I will raise the funds to send me as a delegate.
You may ask...why should I donate to help send
Zachary to be a delegate at the International AIDS conference? Why should I
help him, help our community, our city, our state, our country and our planet?
Why is this important? What's in it for me?
Here are the statistics (taken from The San
Francisco AIDS Foundation Website http://www.sfaf.org/hiv-info/statistics/ )....
San Francisco-
Since the beginning of the epidemic a total of
28,793 San Francisco residents have been diagnosed with AIDS, which comprises
18% of California AIDS cases and 3% of cases reported nationally. There have
been 19,341 reported AIDS deaths in San Francisco as of Dec. 31, 2010.
There were 15,861 San Franciscans living with
HIV/AIDS by the end of 2010. Most were male (92%) and white (63%). In addition,
nearly three-quarters of all HIV/AIDS cases were among men who have sex with
men (MSM) and an additional 14% were among MSM who were also injecting drug
users.
Of the total number of people with HIV/AIDS,
9,452 were living with AIDS at the end of 2010. 92% of those living with AIDS
are male, 6% are female and 2% are transgender.
Survival after AIDS diagnosis is worse for
African Americans than other racial/ethnic groups. Among those diagnosed with
AIDS between 1996 and 2010, the percent of African Americans surviving five
years was 74% as compared with 82% for whites, 84% for Latinos and 86% for
Asian/Pacific Islanders.
There were 399 newly diagnosed HIV cases in
2010, down from 460 in 2009 and 492 in 2008. The majority was male (90%), MSM
(62%), aged 25-49 (84 and white (50%).
The neighborhoods with the highest numbers of
people living with HIV/AIDS are the Castro, Mission, Western Addition and
Tenderloin.
HIV-positive injecting drug users are mainly
concentrated in the Tenderloin, Western Addition and South of Market.
Mean community viral load, a new
population-based biomarker of overall infectiousness, is highest in the
following neighborhoods: Bayview, South of Market ,the Tenderloin, Downtown and
Nob Hill. These communities also generally have the lowest median household
incomes in San Francisco. Overall, homeless individuals have the highest
community viral load.
Overall, an estimated 94% of people living with
AIDS and 71% of those living with HIV (non-AIDS) who are eligible for treatment
were receiving anti-retroviral therapy (ART) as of December 2010. Females,
transfemale persons, African Americans, Native Americans, injection drug users,
and heterosexuals were less likely to be receiving ART treatment.
Source: San Francisco Department of Public
Health, HIV Epidemiology Section. HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report 2010
California-
Nearly 200,000 Californians have contracted
HIV/AIDS and nearly 90,000 have died since the epidemic began in the early
1980s.
California ranks second in the nation in
cumulative AIDS cases at 157,719, surpassed only by New York.
Approximately 109,000 Californians are
HIV-positive, among whom 69,728 are living with AIDS.
There are up to 7,000 new HIV infections in the
state every year.
75.7% of all HIV/AIDS cases occur among gay men,
far exceeding the 53% nationally.
Men make up 89.5%. Women account for 9.8% of
cases, and transgender persons for 0.6%.
Of all HIV cases, whites account for 46.7%
followed by Hispanics at 29.2% and African Americans at 18.9%.
More than 60% of Californians living with HIV
reside in Los Angeles County or the San Francisco Bay Area.
Source: California Office of AIDS, AIDS
Surveillance Report (as of June 2010)
United States-
Since the AIDS epidemic began in 1981, 1.7
million Americans have been infected with HIV and 583,298 have died of
AIDS-related causes through 2007.
1.1 million Americans are living with HIV
(including more than 468,000 with AIDS).
An estimated 21% of people living with HIV are
undiagnosed.
Every 9 1/2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is
infected with HIV.
Gay and bisexual men continue to bear the greatest
burden of HIV infection, accounting for an estimated 53% of new HIV infections.
African-Americans and Latinos are
disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. Blacks accounted for 45% of new
HIV infections in 2006 and 47% of those living with the disease, yet they make
up only 12% of the U.S. population. Latinos account for 17% of new infections
yet comprise 15% of the U.S. population, while whites represent 35% of new
infections and account for 66% of the total population.
The AIDS case rate for African Americans is more
than 9 times that of whites, and the HIV rate is 7 times greater among blacks
than whites. Survival after an AIDS diagnosis is lower for blacks than any
other racial/ethnic group.
Young adults and teens between 13 and 29
represent 34% of new HIV infections, the largest share of any age group. Black
teens are disproportionately affected, representing 68% of reported AIDS cases
among 13 to 19-year-olds in 2007.
Women now account for 27% of HIV infections,
with 280,000 women living with HIV and AIDS. Black women accounted for 65% of
new AIDS cases among women in 2007 and the largest share of new HIV infections
(61%).
New infections due to injection drug use have
declined by about 80% since the mid-to-late 1990s, accounting for 12% of new
infections in 2006.
71% of all AIDS cases reported since the
beginning of the epidemic are concentrated in 10 states or territories. While
the District of Columbia has the highest AIDS case rate (148.1 per 100,000 in
2007), the states of New York (17.6%), California (14.4%) and Florida (10.6%)
have the most cumulative AIDS cases.
I am grateful and appreciative of your
generosity.
In love and service,
Zachary Davenport