The purpose of the National Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day each year on Sept 27 is to raise awareness of the HIV epidemic's disproportionate impact on gay and bisexual men, and to encourage HIV testing, prevention, and treatment.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), racism, poverty, stigma, and homophobia serve as barriers to care and prevention, and continue to drive inequities that cause gay and bisexual men—particularly Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino men—to be overrepresented in the HIV epidemic.
Michael Kharfen, Director of the Division of Policy in the HIV/AIDS Bureau at the Health Resources and Services Administration, joins the Exchange.
