Academy for Educational Development

COMMUNITY GROUPS IN 11 CITIES RECEIVE FUNDING TO RAISE AWARENESS OF HIV VACCINE RESEARCH

--Groups Will Lead "Be the Generation" and Other Efforts in Their Local Communities-- 

Washington, D.C., May 15, 2007 — The Academy for Educational Development (AED) today announced funding to 14 community-based organizations that will lead the Be the Generation education initiative and other activities as local partners of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative. The groups are based in 11 cities throughout the country.

This effort is part of a multi-year public awareness program that will target Americans in those populations most affected by HIV and provide them with information about NIAID-sponsored HIV vaccine research. NIAID is part of the National Institutes of Health. AED was named to implement the Initiative in 2006.

“Research conducted over the past five years shows that public awareness and understanding of HIV vaccine research is very low,” said Frank Beadle de Palomo, director of Global HIV/AIDS Programs at AED.

“The goal of the Initiative is to build support for HIV vaccine research by working in partnership with respected local organizations to increase knowledge within communities, particularly African Americans and Hispanics, as well as high-risk women and men who have sex with men of all demographic groups.”

Each local community group has been awarded funding through March 2009 that will allow them to increase awareness about ongoing HIV vaccine research in their community, establish leadership and support for HIV vaccine research and those who volunteer for clinical trials, and serve as HIV vaccine research educators.

Among their activities, these local partners will hold town hall meetings, conduct community education programs with other local organizations, and provide educational materials about HIV vaccine research to the populations most impacted by HIV, as well as community leaders and health care providers.

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“It is absolutely vital that sustained community partnerships in HIV vaccine research clinical trials in the United States are achieved. These partnerships are critical to community participation in the research necessary to bring about an end to this scourge,” said A. Cornelius Baker, a long-time leader in HIV policy and program initiatives who has joined AED to direct the NIAID HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative.

The 14 partner organizations receiving funding are:

• AIDS Alabama, Birmingham, Alabama
• AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Illinois
• Foundation for Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases (FROST’D), New York City, New York
• Gay Alliance of Genessee Valley, Rochester, New York
• Gay City, Seattle, Washington
• Gay Men of African Descent, New York City, New York
• Latino Health Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
• Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Seattle, Washington
• Multicultural AIDS Coalition, Boston, Massachusetts
• Planned Parenthood, Nashville,Tennessee
• The SafeGuards Project/Circle of Care, Family Planning Council, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• San Francisco AIDS Foundation, San Francisco, California
• SisterLove, Atlanta, Georgia
• Us Helping Us, Washington, District of Columbia

The organizations were selected through a competitive application process. AED received 27 applications from eligible agencies. All applications were reviewed by an external review committee that consisted of experts in the field of HIV vaccine research, prevention, community partnership, social marketing, and communications.

Friday, May 18 is HIV Vaccine Awareness Day. To learn more about supporting HIV vaccine research go to: http://www.bethegeneration.org.

AED (www.aed.org) works in all the major areas of development, with a focus on improving education, health, and economic opportunities for the least advantaged in the United States and developing countries throughout the world.

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