AHF Launches 'Public Health Division'( Formerly the 'Prevention and Test...),Health

Formerly the 'Prevention and Testing Department,' Name Change Reflects Agency's Expanded Charter to Provide Community Health Education and Public Health Policy Development to a Broad, Diverse Audience Aimed at Reducing HIV and STD Infections in the U.S. and Globally

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), operator of the largest non-government HIV testing program in California, today announced the formation of its new 'Public Health Division'. Formerly known as AHF's 'Prevention and Testing Department,' the Public Health Division is the organization's community health education and public health policy arm. The new name reflects the department's expanded charter as it continues to build on the organization's history of providing effective and innovative HIV testing and counseling services, social marketing campaigns and public health policy and legislation development.

The Public Health Division name change also demonstrates an expansion of the reach of AHF's services as the department continues to keep pace with changes in the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including the changing face of populations considered most at-risk. The department originated with the primary purpose of operating AHF's HIV testing and counseling program targeted toward a predominantly men who have sex with men (MSM) population in Los Angeles and West Hollywood. Its reach has evolved as the epidemic has changed, to include heterosexual men and women, MSM men of color, men of color who do not self identify as MSM, and women of color. Just one example of AHF's broader reach is the Foundation's participation in the federal Centers for the Disease Control's (CDC's) Sisters Informing Sisters about Topics on AIDS (SISTA) Intervention program in Los Angeles, a peer-led, skill-building intervention project to prevent HIV infection in African-American women.

Geographically, the department has also expanded to include more areas within Los Ange
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