St. Petersburg: Candlelight Vigil to Raise Awareness of Florida HIV/AIDS Crisis, Honor ...( High Infection Rates Rising Rapidly ...),Health

High Infection Rates, Rising Rapidly Among Minorities and Women, Continue

to Plague State 10,688 Living with AIDS in Tampa-St. Petersburg Area; 32% of HIV Cases in

Area Are Female

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Sept. 25 /PRNewwire-USNewswire/ -- The following was released today by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

What: HIV/AIDS Candlelight Vigil

When: Thursday, September 27, 20077:00pm

Where: Poynter Park

800 3rd Street South

St. Petersburg, Florida 33701

(Next to the Salvador Dali museum)

Who: HIV/AIDS advocates, people living with HIV/AIDS, medical care

providers and concerned community members

Contacts: Lori Yeghiayan, AHF Associate Director of Communications

(323) 377-4312 mobile, (323) 860-5227 office

Liza Nash, AHF Statewide Advocacy Coordinator

(727) 482-3849 mobile, (727) 533-9000 office

*B-Roll: Vigil participants will be igniting candles, symbolizing the 125,000 Floridians living with HIV/AIDS & those whose lives have been lost

Scores of HIV/AIDS advocates are expected to attend an HIV/AIDS Candlelight Vigil in Poynter Park in St. Petersburg on Thursday, September 27th at 7:00 p.m. to remember those who have lost their lives to HIV/AIDS and to support the estimated 125,000 Floridians living with the disease today. The event, sponsored by AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), will also help raise awareness about Florida's HIV/AIDS epidemic which, like much of the nation, is growing most rapidly among minorities, including African-Americans, Latinos and women.

"The purpose of this vigil is to remember and honor those who have lost their lives AIDS and to demonstrate community solidarity as we continue to fight for access to lifesaving medical care and services for the 125,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in F
'/>"/>