Actors Undergo Public HIV Screening to Encourage 1 Million Black Americans to Get Tested and Stop the AIDS Epidemic

Actors Undergo Public HIV Screening to Encourage 1 Million Black Americans to Get Tested and Stop the AIDS Epidemic

- Regina King to reveal HIV test results at press conference -

 LOS ANGELES, June 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --    WHAT:      In anticipation of National HIV Testing Day, Screen Actors              Guild, the American Federation for Television and Radio              Artists, the Black AIDS Institute, Artists for a New South              Africa, Palms Residential Care Facility and the Beverly              Hills/Hollywood branch of the NAACP will launch the "1 in a              Million" campaign by hosting an HIV screening event and press              conference at the national Screen Actors Guild headquarters              featuring A-list Black celebrities being tested for HIV in              front of the cameras.  The group will call on 1 million Black              Americans to get tested for HIV by World AIDS Day '08 (Dec. 1)              and will answer questions from reporters.               Those who plan to attend and publicly take an HIV test at the              press conference include:              Jimmy Jean-Louis ("Heroes"); Regina King ("Ray," "24"); Hill              Harper ("CSI: New York"); Rockmond Dunbar ("Prison Break,"              "Heartland"); Alan Rosenberg ("The Guardian," "Cybil"); Jasmine              Guy ("A Different World"); Indigo Nichols ("Weeds"); Robi Reed              (RR Casting); Meagan Tandy (Miss California USA 2007); Vanessa              Williams ("Soul Food"); Regina Taylor ("The Unit"); Sheryl Lee              Ralph ("ER," Original "Dreamgirls" on Broadway); Hosea Chanchez              ("The Game"); Jamal Weathers ("Shooter"); Antonio Pena ("Young              & The Restless"); Angie Stone (recording artist); Darius              McCrary ("Transformers"); Sandi McCree ("The Wire"); Anne-Marie              Johnson ("CSI," "JAG"); Ovie Mughelli (Atlanta Falcons); Isaac              Keys (Arizona Cardinals); Henry Simmons ("Shark"); Tatyana Ali              ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air"); Kym Whitley ("Grey's Anatomy,"              "Reno 911!"); Samaki Walker, Rob Sommers and Deandre Walker              (NBA); Jenifer Lewis ("Strong Medicine"); Alexandra Paul              ("Baywatch"); Evan Dexter Parke ("King Kong"); Lamman Rucker              ("Half & Half"); Beverly White (KNBC-TV); Yvette Nicole Brown              ("The Office"); Gina Belafonte ("Friends"); Colette Divine              ("Sarong Song"); J. Karen Thomas ("Crossing Jordan"); Vida              Guerra; Earl Cole (Winner, "Survivor: Fiji"); Howard Hesseman              ("Boston Legal," "WKRP in Cincinnati"); Author/journalist Gil              Robertson will sign copies of Not in My Family: AIDS in the              African-American Community.  Phill Wilson (Executive Director,              Black AIDS Institute) will be available for interviews, Gloria              Reuben ("ER", "Life Support") will be available from New York              City, and Wendy Davis ("Army Wives") and Shari Belafonte ("The              District") will be available via telephone.    WHY:       The June 25th press conference is part of a national Mass Black              Response to the AIDS epidemic sponsored by the Black AIDS              Institute, The Balm In Gilead, the National Black Leadership              Commission on AIDS and leading national Black Institutions.              The Black AIDS Mobilization (BAM) is committed to ending the              AIDS epidemic in Black America by 2012 by:                -- Cutting HIV rates in Black America by 50%               -- Increasing the number of Black Americans who know their HIV                  status by 50%               -- Increasing the number of Black Americans in appropriate                  early care/treatment by 50%               -- Reducing HIV/AIDS stigma in Black America by 50%               Black Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS.              Of the 1.3 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS, nearly 50              percent of them are Black.  Black Americans represent more than              54 percent of the new HIV/AIDS cases in the United States.              AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women              aged 24-34.  A study by the CDC showed that forty-six percent              of Black gay men in America may already be HIV positive.              Twenty-five percent of HIV positive people in the U.S. do not              know they are infected.    WHEN:      Monday, June 25, 2007, 10:00-11:00am PT    WHERE:     Screen Actors Guild National Headquarters:              5757 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036    CONTACT:   For more information or to arrange interviews, please contact              Doug Hochstedler at 212.798.9724 or              doug_hochstedler@cohnwolfe.com   

This educational event is sponsored by the Black AIDS Institute, Artists for a New South Africa, Screen Actors Guild, Palms Residential Care Facility, NAACP (Beverly Hills/Hollywood branch), Black Hollywood Education and Resource Center, BET Network/Rap It Up, TV One and the Pan African Film Festival with funding and other support provided by the M.A.C. AIDS Fund, the Ford Foundation, The Gill Foundation, Open Society Institute, and Merck & Co., Inc.

Source: Screen Actors Guild; Black AIDS Institute

CONTACT: Doug Hochstedler of Cohn & Wolfe, +1-212-798-9724,
doug_hochstedler@cohnwolfe.com, for Screen Actors Guild and Black AIDS
Institute

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Profile: International Entertainment