As Connecticut’s General Assembly takes up session in Hartford, it is particularly important to raise HIV/AIDS awareness across the state. Shawn Lang, Director of Public Policy at the Connecticut AIDS Resource Coalition (CARC), will speak at February’s HIV Forum to give a brief guide to the legislative process and discuss the coalition’s HIV/AIDS agenda this session. CARC is the only statewide AIDS organization in Connecticut, and focuses primarily on advocacy, treatment availability, and housing issues. The forum will take place on Tuesday, February 13, 2007, from noon to 1:30 pm at ICR, 2 Hartford Square West (146 Wyllys St.), Suite 100. The event is free; lunch will be provided and advance registration is required.

Many people in Connecticut may not realize the scope of the AIDS crisis in the state. In fact, Connecticut ranks eighth in the nation in AIDS cases per capita. “There have been 9,000 newly reported AIDS cases since 1995, yet we’ve seen no significant increases in funding in all that time,” says Lang, suggesting the need for action by state politicians and agencies. “The providers and people living with HIV/AIDS swim against our own tsunami.” On a per capita basis, Connecticut has the highest number of AIDS cases among injection drug users, the second highest in cases among women, and the third highest in cases among Latinos. As the epidemic gets worse, Lang considers it essential for people who are directly affected to advocate for change on the legislative level. “The stories that providers and people living with HIV/AIDS can tell are so meaningful,” says Lang. “I can tell someone’s story, and even do it well, but when that person is facing a legislator and saying what their life would have been like without AIDS housing or how they may not have gotten infected had they had information, that’s really different.”

Lang will outline CARC’s legislative agenda, including a $500,000 increase in AIDS Prevention Funding and a $1.5 million increase for AIDS housing. The forum will be of interest to service providers, advocates, researchers, social scientists, medical professionals, persons living with HIV/AIDS and policy makers, particularly those who are interested in getting involved in AIDS advocacy.

This is the first presentation in the Spring, 2007 series of forums organized by The Institute for Community Research and the Connecticut AIDS Education and Training Center with support from Gilead Sciences, GlaxoSmithKline and Boehringer Ingelheim. The Hartford HIV Forum meets from 12:00 noon to 1:30 p.m., on the second Tuesday of each month from September through June. The goal of the forums is to give the local community the most up-to-date information on current topics in AIDS prevention, treatment, research and care. To register for the forum, call the Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044. For more information about the series, contact Kim Radda at The Institute for Community Research at 860-278-2044 X285.

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