Big Tigger, D.C. Health Officials Speak at Black HIV/Aids Awareness Day Event

Abdullah Jones, CMS Health Initiatives

- Elementary and high school students, as well as adults were greeted by WPGC’s Big Tigger, the District’s director of Health Dr. Mohammad Akhter and the newly appointed director of HIV/AIDS Dr. Gregory Pappas, just before the entertainment segment of CMS Health Initiatives’ National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day event.

Tigger quizzed the audience on ways to prevent the spread of HIV. He also informed the audience that blacks represent close to 80 percent of HIV cases in the District; and that the HIV/AIDS rate in the district is higher than in any other city in the nation.

“Nowhere else in America do people catch HIV like they do here,” said Tigger. “So what we want you young people to do is abstain from sex. You don’t have to have sex if you don’t want to have sex.

In addition, he advised the youth to educate themselves about HIV by talking to someone.

In his first public speaking appearance since being sworn-in by Mayor Vincent Gray on February 4, Pappas advised the youth to go home and ask their parents and relatives: when was the last time you were tested?

“We’re fighting a virus as a community, as families, as churches, as individuals,” said Pappas. “We’re not fighting people with the disease. We’re not fighting people who are sick. We’re trying to help them.

Chair of this year’s health fair Dr. Alsean Bryant said that it was an honor to have the speakers attend.

“What I enjoyed most about the event is that it wasn’t just an event, it was a collaborative movement, said Bryant. “HIV has no respect for persons. And no individual or organization has the physical capacity to change the face of our reality; hence, this year’s theme being ‘It Takes a Village to Fight HIV/AIDS’.”

Over 13 organizations contributed to the success of CMS Health Initiatives event, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., City Year and Teens Against the Spread of Aids.

According to Bryant, they were able to test 35 people for HIV/AIDS at three locations in Ward 8 during their three-day promo tour leading up to the event, and were able to test 15 of the nearly 200 people at the actual event, with the help of Rock the Block Campaign.

“I was very pleased at the event and the amount of participants,” said Dr. Tamara Foreman, the immediate past executive director of CMS Health Initiatives.

According to Foreman, their ultimate agenda was to educate the community about HIV/AIDS and the epidemic in the District, and to remove the stigma associated with HIV.

Although some worried that the information presented at the event wasn’t age appropriate, Foreman said, “It’s time for these issues to be topics of conversation for both the young and the old.