Black AIDS Institute President and CEO Phill Wilson Opening Speaker at 2012 International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012)

Wilson Calls for Action to End the AIDS Crisis in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES, July 20, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Phill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, will bring a call to action to finally end the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. when he speaks at the opening plenary session of the 2012 International AIDS Conference (AIDS2012) in Washington on Monday.

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In the July 23 speech – titled "Deciding Moment: Ending the AIDS Epidemic in America Together" – Wilson will address how to turn the tide of HIV/AIDS epidemic the U.S., which is primarily in the Black Community and requires a broad mobilization of community leaders, public health officials, and activists to act on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy by tackling the challenges of access to HIV care and treatment for Americans affected by HIV in local communities.

"HIV touches the lives of everyone in the U.S., and as a community, it is our responsibility to choose to act," said Wilson. "I want people who attend this conference to return to their communities recharged and refocused on building infrastructure in their local neighborhoods to help people get the care they need. If we act together, we can end this epidemic in our communities and in our country once and for all." 

Wilson's speech will draw on new data in its latest report, Back of the Line: The State of AIDS Among Black Gay Men in America. The landmark report highlights alarming data that show disproportionately high rates of HIV infections and deaths from AIDS among Black MSM, why these disparities persist and are growing worse, and the urgent need for local and national leadership to immediately address the devastating health crisis.   

Wilson will speak at the opening plenary session on the Conference, which will focus on ending the AIDS epidemic by "Turning the Tide Together." Also speaking will be Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State; Anthony S. Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID); and Dr. Sheila Tlou, Director of the UNAIDS Regional Support Team for East and Southern Africa.

About the Black AIDS Institute
Founded in 1999, The Black AIDS Institute (The Institute), a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization, is the only national HIV/AIDS Think Tank in the United States focused exclusively on Black people. The Institute's mission is to end the AIDS epidemic in Black communities by engaging and mobilizing traditional Black leaders, institutions and individuals in efforts to confront HIV/AIDS. The Institute offers training and capacity building, disseminates information, interprets and recommends private and public sector HIV policies, and provides advocacy and mobilization from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view. www.blackaids.org

SOURCE Black AIDS Institute