Press Release

Ohio AIDS Awareness Week Celebrated May 6^th-12^th 2001

Union County will celebrate this annual event by promotion of HIV/AIDS awareness activities.  AIDS is a fatal disease that is not curable but 100% preventable.  Share the knowledge not HIV by educating yourself and loved ones about how HIV is and is not spread.  In the US over 850,000 adults and children are estimated to be living with HIV/AIDS.  This disease does not discriminate and affects every age, race, and socio-economic group.  AIDS is the fifth leading cause of death for people 25-44 years of age, and 50% of all new infections occur among people under the age of 25. 

The Union County AIDS Task Force needs your help in educating people about HIV. Know the facts- saliva, sweat, tears, or causal contact such as hugging or kissing do not spread HIV.  HIV is spread by contact with blood, sexual fluids, or breast milk.  Most people infected with the virus have no signs or symptoms.  Anyone who has had exposure to the above body fluids should get tested for HIV.  Free HIV testing is provided by the Union County AIDS Task Force and located at the Union County Health Department every Tuesday from 8-9am without an appointment. 

AIDS Walk Central Ohio will kick off the week and will be held at Bicentennial Park in Columbus, Sunday May 6^th.  The festival will begin at 11am with step off at 2pm.   This event will raise money to support 10 Central Ohio designated agencies, including the Union County AIDS Task Force.  This event is a major fundraiser that supports educational activities conducted in Union County.

Deaths from AIDS first became prevalent in the late 1980’s, and since have continued to grow tremendously.  In 1987 devoted friends and family members worked together to document the lives of loved ones they feared history would neglect.  This developed the worldwide Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.  The Union County AIDS Task Force is honored to receive a portion of the national quilt to have on display in Union County.  The display will be at the United Methodist Church Burnside Family Life Center located at 207 S. Court St. in Marysville on Monday, May 7^th from 6-8 pm.  Refreshments and free educational materials will be provided.  This is truly a moving experience for all ages and provides a means for remembrance and healing during the illustration of the enormity of the AIDS epidemic.  The quilt will also be rotated through the Ohio Reformatory for Women, and Fairbanks, North Union, and Marysville High Schools.