Refocusing national attention on HIV in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced a new national campaign, Act Against AIDS, to raise awareness of and combat complacency about the HIV and AIDS crisis in the United States. Act Against AIDS will also highlight alarming statistics-approximately 56,000 Americans become infected with HIV annually, and more than 14,000 people with AIDS die each year in the United States. Nurses play a significant role in helping patients understand how to prevent infection and the need for testing and treatment.

The campaign will reach out to those most severely affected by HIV and AIDS, including blacks and Latinos. The initial phase of the campaign highlights the fact that every nine and a half minutes someone in the United States becomes infected with HIV. The campaign uses different materials to increase knowledge about the crisis in the United States. See http://www.cdc.gov%2fhiv%2faaa for more information.