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GUESTS: Elizabeth Marte, Peer Outreach Advocate with Women Alive, Monique Collins, Office of AIDS Programs and Policy with Los Angeles County

This Friday marks International World AIDS Day and campaigns across the globe are rallying under the theme of “accountability.” This year also marks the 25th anniversary of the first identification of the AIDS virus. Since that time, the disease has claimed the lives of 25 million people and has currently infected 40 million more. Locally in Los Angeles, minority community activists are responding to World AIDS Day by renewing their commitment to raise awareness and prevent the spread of the disease in their communities. A new study by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has found that 72% of Latinos and 53% of Blacks in the city are diagnosed with HIV less than a year before it transitions into full-blown AIDS. Latinos account for nearly half of new HIV/AIDS cases in Los Angeles, while Blacks account for half of new cases nationwide. On World AIDS Day, hundreds of Latinos are expected to gather at Our Lady Queen of Angeles Church on Olvera Street for a night of remembrance and community empowerment. The Magic Johnson Foundation will also launch a campaign this Friday to reduce the AIDS infection rate in the black community in half by 2011.

For more information, visit www.hivla.org or call 1800-367-AIDS.

For more information about Women Alive, call 323-965-1564.