​New York City/New Jersey Area HIV Testing Campaign Launches in Recognition of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
 
Grant to Iris House and Voces Latinas Supports Social Media and Community Outreach to Reach Minority Women

New York, NY, March 10, 2017 – Iris House and Voces Latinas announced today the first major grant awarded to the two organizations under their partnership providing health social support services in New York City. Initiated in June 2016, the partnership pursues joint programs to enhance services for women who are living with and/or affected by HIV/AIDS and other health disparities that impact minority women. Through a grant from ViiV Healthcare, Iris House and Voces Latinas have launched an HIV testing campaign with a focus on women of color in New York City and Central New Jersey. The campaign launch coincides with National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NWGHAAD), recognized each year on March 10. Featuring the theme, Love Your Life, the testing campaign is expected to be one of the largest of its kind, promoted via social and digital communications materials and by direct outreach in focus communities. The Love Your Life campaign materials are available for download at www.LoveYourLife.org and www.AmaTuVida.org.
 
“We’re excited to support the Iris House and Voces Latina “Love Your Life” campaign, which is uniquely responsive to the urgent need for HIV education, testing, counseling and support services for women,” says Amelia Korangy of ViiV Healthcare. “We’re confident this campaign will provide resources that resonate with women who are disproportionately affected by HIV and don’t see themselves at risk, guiding them to affirming services to help prevent and manage HIV.”
 
“We are excited to launch this testing awareness campaign with Voces Latinas. This will play an integral part in our efforts to provide health social support services on a scale and scope not previously seen in the New York City area,” said Ingrid Floyd, Executive Director, Iris House. “Grants of this nature are increasingly needed to fill in the growing gaps in funding for women’s social services, and we are grateful to ViiV Healthcare for their commitment.”
 
The campaign kicked off on March 9 at Sylvia’s Also Lounge in Harlem at a presentation on HIV among Women and Girls at 6 pm. A second event in Spanish will take place on March 16 at Pio Pio Restaurant in Queens, also at 6pm. The campaign will run through September, and Iris House will host a discussion of the process of putting together the campaign at their annual Women as the Face of AIDS Summit on May 8, and will use the campaign as a tool to encourage testing around National HIV Testing Day on June 27.
 
This project is part of the collaborative effort establishing a National Center of Excellence for Women’s Health, announced by Iris House and Voces Latinas last June.  The Center also supports a joint program on Hepatitis C education, outreach, and testing, as well as a series of community dinner seminars on HIV that are being offered in both English and Spanish.
 
“Voces Latinas and Iris House have made great progress in establishing our National Center, which will provide the partnership needed to join forces and reach African American and Latina women, the highest populations among women infected with HIV. The Center will provide women with valuable culturally and linguistically relevant information and resources to connect women to care.” said Nathaly Rubio-Torio, Executive Director of Voces Latinas. “Expanding our reach in Manhattan and Queens will offer our communities lifesaving health screenings and treatment for themselves and their families. Programming is being planned by Iris House and Voces Latinas for upcoming year.”
 
The campaign was developed and photographed by the team at Duane Cramer Creative.
 
About Iris House
Iris House provides services for women, families and communities infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS.  In addition to providing family-centered services that promote prevention, education and awareness, Iris House also offers practical services that address the day-to-day needs and reality of living with HIV/AIDS.  Iris House provides nutritional counseling and meal programs, intensive case management, scatter site housing, mental health services and support groups, and job and life skills training.  Since opening its doors in 1993, Iris House has assisted more than 1,800 individuals cope with HIV/AIDS, and in 2015 served more than 6,800 individuals.  For more information on Iris House and Iris House Programs, please visit www.irishouse.org. 
 
About Voces Latinas
Voces Latinas (VL) was founded in 2003 with the mission to reduce the rate of HIV transmission and violence among immigrants Latinas by empowering, educating, and providing leadership and advocacy trainings, which enable Latinas/os to have a voice and make healthier decisions for them and their families. Through collaborative relationships, VL also connects immigrant Latinas/os with culturally and linguistically sensitive resources and services to address their immediate needs including intimate partner and gender-based violence, mental health issues, immigration, feelings of isolation, and HIV/AIDS. The uniqueness of VL is that it serves a marginalized population facing multiple traumas {oppression, poverty, threat of deportation, interpersonal violence, sexual violence, survival sex}; specifically, co-morbidity of violence against women and risk for HIV/AIDS.  www.voceslatinas.org 
 
About ViiV Healthcare's Positive Action Programme
Positive Action was created in 1992 as the first pharmaceutical company programme to support communities affected by HIV and AIDS. ViiV Healthcare is proud to continue the Positive Action programme and its valuable work with these communities. Positive Action works with those communities most vulnerable to HIV disease, including youth, girls and women, sex workers, gay men, men who have sex with men (MSM), transgender people, injecting drug users (IDU), the homeless and the incarcerated. Our projects range across education, prevention, care and treatment-related activity such as treatment literacy and community/clinical engagement.
 
For more information about Positive Action, please visit:
https://us.viivhealthcare.com/making-a-difference.aspx.
 
About ViiV Healthcare
ViiV Healthcare is a global specialist HIV company established in November 2009 by GlaxoSmithKline (LSE: GSK) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) dedicated to delivering advances in treatment and care for people living with HIV. Shionogi joined in October 2012. The company’s aim is to take a deeper and broader interest in HIV/AIDS than any company has done before and take a new approach to deliver effective and new HIV medicines as well as support communities affected by HIV. For more information on the company, its management, portfolio, pipeline and commitment, please visit www.viivhealthcare.com.