Prevention & Education
Current News
Drugs + HIV is a current health campaign launched by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This information site is designed to help teenagers and young adults make the connection between unprotected sex and possible HIV infection.
Visit www.hiv.drugabuse.gov for more information.
HIV Prevention and Community
Awareness
IAA
provides qualified prevention staff to the Fairbanks community to address
the HIV outreach and education needs of straight, gay, lesbian, transgender,
bisexual and questioning youth and adults who may be at greater risk for contracting
the virus. IAA prevention personnel:
•
Educate at-risk adults through multiple session programs at domestic
violence shelters, substance abuse treatment centers, and correctional
facilities;
• Educate at-risk youth through multiple session and outreach
programs at transitional living facilities,
correctional centers, substance abuse treatment centers, schools in high-risk
areas, and on the campus of the University
of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF);
• Reach out to sex workers, the homeless, and injection drug users
in Fairbanks, educating them about strategies
for prevention and harm reduction;
• Work with programs serving women who are pregnant and/or already
have children to educate them on the risks
of HIV and the possibilities of mother-to-child transmission;
• Help people living with HIV and AIDS to develop strategies to
prevent further transmission of the virus;
• Perform HIV prevention counseling and free anonymous HIV testing
for people who may be at increased risk,
including off-site testing at residential treatment centers;
• Offer Hepatitis C education and harm reduction programs;
• Provide free access to condoms and information on HIV and Hepatitis
prevention; and
• Work in close collaboration with Northern Exchange, a needle
exchange program.
Multiple
session HIV prevention presentations include Be Proud, Be Responsible and
Safety Counts curricula and are provided by trained IAA staff and volunteers.
They are intended to promote informed decision-making; awareness of HIV transmission,
infection, and risk reduction; and an awareness of the risks associated with
substance abuse. Our presentations are designed to be dynamic—to fit
the group at hand. We are not afraid to expand our scope to meet specific
needs or address special concerns, though our focus will remain on HIV prevention.
IAA prevention staff and volunteers also work to sharpen community knowledge
and awareness to the dangers of HIV and high-risk behaviors. Some community
projects that IAA has sponsored, is currently sponsoring, or plans to sponsor
in the near future are:
• Public awareness programs involving
the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, including a 3-day display
in 1992, and several shorter displays on World AIDS Day;
• Training workshops for health care providers and support personnel
including dentists, dental assistants,
Hospice volunteers, residential care staff, and other social workers
• World AIDS Day activities and special events;
• Awareness workshops for families of people with HIV;
• Other special events such as Snowshoe Softball, Ribbon Rides
(bicycling), Moose Scat Scoot, and
community events geared at fundraising for IAA; and
• A bimonthly newsletter with a circulation of 275 providers,
friends, family, and HIV+ individuals in the
Interior.
The IAA works closely with Northern
Exchange,the only syringe exchange program in interior Alaska. Syringe
exchange is the most studied and most effective HIV prevention strategy available.
For more information visit the Harm
Reduction Coalition web site
Prevention Staff:
907. 452.4222
Brenda Reichenberg: brenda@interioraids.org
Cheryl Humme: cheryl@interioraids.org
Copyright 2004 - Present, Interior
AIDS Association, all rights reserved.
710 Third Ave., Fairbanks, Alaska 99701. Phone: (907) 452-IAAA (4222). Fax
(907) 452-8176
Email: info@interioraids.org
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