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More than 600 students who packed an auditorium
at Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., for a World AIDS
Day event heard several speakers -- including the Today show’s Katie Couric – address themes of caution, prevention
and common sense in dealing with HIV/AIDS.
Yorktown High partnered with HRSA and other HHS agencies
on the Nov. 30 event, which reflected the theme of this year’s
World AIDS Day: “Youth and AIDS in the 21st Century.”
World AIDS Day is commemorated every year on December
1.
Yorktown is a leader in Northern Virginia in training students
to counsel other young people on HIV prevention and AIDS awareness. More than 30 of its students have been trained by the Northern
Virginia AIDS Ministry as HIV peer educators.
Couric – a 1975 Yorktown graduate – congratulated students via
videotape on their leadership in peer education and told them
life was simpler during the years she attended the school. “When I was at Yorktown, I only worried about boys and hair,
and boys and cheerleading, not AIDS and September 11,” she said.
Patricia Ware, executive director
of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, reminded students of the sacrifices parents and distant ancestors
made to make life better for all of us. She urged students to honor those sacrifices by making conscious
choices to stay healthy and safe, especially important now with
a growing HIV infection rate among U.S. adolescents.
HRSA Acting Administrator Elizabeth M. Duke spoke about
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson's commitment to the care and
treatment of people with HIV/AIDS and introduced Ware.
An expert panel headed by Michael Johnson, M.D., director
of the HIV/AIDS Bureau’s Division of Training and Technical
Assistance, closed the event by responding to questions from
students about HIV transmission, testing and prevention.
The Yorktown event -- along with a separate World
AIDS Day observance for HHS employees in Rockville, Md. -- was
sponsored by the Inter-Agency World AIDS Day Committee, comprised
of representatives from the Office of the Surgeon General, FDA,
HRSA, SAMHSA, the HHS Program Support Center and BETAH Associates.
Professional and Scientific Associates provided awards for the
annual World AIDS Day Poster Contest, which featured student
artists from the Washington metropolitan area.
(Note:
Top right photo shows winning entries in the poster contest.
Bottom left photo shows Yorktown peer educators participating
in a candlelight vigil honoring people with HIV/AIDS.)
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