Pitt Hosts Educating Teens about HIV/AIDS Awareness Day Events

PITTSBURGH— The University of Pittsburgh's Center for Minority Health in the Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) is sponsoring two free presentations for Educating Teens About HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Thursday at the University Club, 121 University Place, Oakland.

The first presentation, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., is for a general audience. Lunch will be provided, but attendees must make reservations by calling 412-565-2330 or 412-231-1821. The second presentation, from 4:30 to 6 p.m., will be geared toward church and youth group leaders. No reservations are required.

Featured speakers include J. Michael Waldmiller, education program specialist in the Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Stephen B. Thomas, Philip Hallen Professor of Community Health and Social Justice and director of the Center for Minority Health at Pitt; and Kezia Ellison, founder of Educating Teens about HIV/AIDS Month.

Educating Teens about HIV/AIDS Month was created in 1999 as part of Ellison's service-learning project for the Pennsylvania Governor's School of Excellence for Health Care. She is now a sophomore at Brown University, in

Providence, R.I.

"A little over three years ago, I was a high school student appalled by the devastation of HIV/AIDS and determined to start a project in my community to educate students about HIV/AIDS," Ellison said. "With three semesters of college behind me, I remain determined to help in the fight against this deadly disease. Pittsburgh City Council and Allegheny County Council proclaimed the month of March as Educating Teens about HIV/AIDS Month, therefore we must take advantage of this opportunity to call special attention to this epidemic during March."

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3/26/03/mgc