T A L K I N G
Get Your Game On SAFER-SEX TRADING CARDS FROM VISUAL AIDS
A tattooed and muscled basketball player slips his hand down his short shorts, a sleek swimmer is awarded a condom medal, an oiled-down tennis player gets ready for a match—these aren’t your average sports trading cards. These are just some of the images on the “Play Smart” trading cards released in June for LGBT Pride month by Visual AIDS and The Men’s Sexual Health Project. They tell you how to play it smart while getting some play. Each card showcases commissioned artwork by photographers (two of whom are HIV positive), as well as information on safer sex, HIV testing and PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis). The names on the front of each card are those of the photographers—not the subjects. Each pack of trading cards comes packaged with a sticker, condoms and lube. Visual AIDS hopes the trading cards will spark both the exchange of data and digits. They’ll certainly be fun to swap. —CRISTINA GONZÁLEZ “Play Smart” trading cards are free for distribution and available in bulk for the cost of shipping and handling while supplies last. E-mail info@visualaids.org for more information.
It’s Everyone’s Business A NEW PARTNERSHIP AIMS TO END A STATE OF EMERGENCY.
(LATINO MAN) ISTOCKPHOTO/EDUARDO ANTONIO FUENTES
More than 10 years after local officials first declared Oakland, California, to be in a state of emergency over its rising HIV rates, the city remains torn apart by a seemingly unstoppable epidemic. Oakland Mayor Ronald Dellums’s office has responded to the raging rate of new HIV infections by
founding Get Screened Oakland (GSO), a new public-private partnership that unites for-profit corporations, city programs and nonprofit organizations to revolutionize HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention programs. GSO is supported by the Global Business Coalition (GBC) on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The GBC connects government organizations and nonprofits with the specialized skill sets of corporations. The result is a synergy tailor-made to Oakland’s residents and businesses. GSO has three goals: raise awareness about the HIV epidemic, reduce HIV transmission and make HIV screening a routine part of care. The hope is that GSO’s prevention strategy will serve as a national model and revolutionize public health programs in other cities ravaged by HIV/AIDS. “This approach re-energizes and re-engages an exhausted community of providers by bringing in new people and new partners to the table,” said Marsha Martin, PhD, director of GSO. “With more people engaged, HIV becomes everyone’s business. With more people engaged, the work is better coordinated, facilitated and supported.” GBC members tied to the Oakland area—including Chevron, Levi Strauss & Co., Young & Rubicam, Walgreens and the NBA—are already onboard and have pledged their unique skills for the partnership. Sounds like it’s a good thing to be all up in each other’s business. —CG
HOT DATES
OCTOBER 15 NATIONAL LATINO AIDS AWARENESS DAY More than two of every five Latinos who test HIV positive in the United States receive an AIDS diagnosis within one year. Early testing is crucial, which explains this year’s NLAAD theme: “Save a Life, It May Be Your Own. Get Tested for HIV.”
Go to nlaad.org for more information.
OCTOBER | NOVEMBER 2010 POZ 15