Rock the Red Pump for National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, March 10

On March 10, 2012, Rock the Red Pump and Macaroni Kid will be recognizing National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.  The campaign aims to raise awareness about the major impact HIV/AIDS has on women and girls and to encourage people to take action to eradicate HIV/AIDS.

There has been significant strides in new medicines to extend the lives of people with AIDS, as well as new preventive measures to protect people from contracting the virus.  However, 55,000 Americans are infected with the virus each year.  That's one newly infected person every 9.5 minutes. 

Women are particularly more vulnerable to HIV/AIDS in recent years.  Women represent 27% of all new AIDS diagnoses (nearly 15,000), with African-American women accounting for two-thirds of that group. HIV is the leading cause of death for black women aged 25–34 years.

In 2006, the CDC estimates that almost 46,000 young people, ages 13-24, were living with HIV in the US.  Women comprised 28% of these HIV/AIDS cases among 13-24 year-olds.

Although HIV/AIDS isn't grabbing headlines since new medicines are prolonging lives of people infected with the virus, it remains an important public health issue particularly among women and teenagers. 

Here are some things you can do to recognize National Women & Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day:

• Take a picture of you wearing your favorite red shoes and post it on the Rock the Red Pump Campaign Facebook page, Twitter and/or Tumblr.
• Share this with your friends and family.
• If you have a blog, write a post about why you rock the red pump.
• Visit http://www.theredpumpproject.org for more facts on HIV/AIDS and how you can get involved.