(WASHINGTON, DC) – On Friday, December 1, at 11 am, Mayor Muriel Bowser will be joined by artist Raheem DeVaughn to recognize World AIDS Day at the World AIDS Day Red Carnation Affair. Attendees will have the chance to learn more about resources and volunteer opportunities offered by District-based organizations that combat HIV/AIDS, as well as participate in informational workshops. DC residents will also participate in a service project to assemble health kits and care packages for those who are affected by the epidemic. 

In December 2016, Mayor Bowser announced the release of 90/90/90/50, a plan for ending the HIV epidemic in the District by 2020. Last year, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases in Washington, DC decreased to 347, a 52 percent decrease from 720 cases in 2011 and a 73 percent decrease from 2007-levels. In just under a decade, the number of newly diagnosed HIV cases attributable to injection drug use decreased by 95 percent from 149 cases in 2007, prior to the scale up of DC’s needle exchange program, to 7 cases in 2016. Currently, 12,964 DC residents or 1.9 percent of the population is living with HIV.

WHEN:
Friday, December 1, at 11 am
 
WHO:
Mayor Muriel Bowser 
Delano Hunter, Chief Service Officer, Serve DC – The Mayor’s Office on Volunteerism
Sheila Alexander-Reid, Director, The Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs 
David Mariner, Executive Director, The DC Center 
Raheem DeVaughn, The LoveLife Foundation 

WHERE: 
Franklin D. Reeves Center 
2000 14th Street, NW 
1st Floor 
*Closest Metro: U Street/African-American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo Metro Station*

Press interested in attending the event are asked to RSVP to [email protected]. To view the event online, visit mayor.dc.gov/live or tune in on Channel 16.