AHF’s ‘Condom Nation’ Big Rig Chugs into Chattanooga!

AIDS group’s 70-foot, 18-wheel ‘Condom Nation’ big rig and companion Sprinter van continue national condom giveaway tour with stops in North Carolina to participate a free condom giveaway and free HIV testing event. Goal: 25-states, 20 million free condoms. On Sunday, ‘Condom Nation’ will partner with the Chattanooga CARES for an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AIDS Healthcare Foundation:

“In order to better protect the public health, we need universal access to condoms and they need to be available at an extremely low cost”

What:	MEDIA AVAILABILITY—Free condom giveaway. AHF’s ‘Condom Nation’ 18-wheel semi truck continues 40-city, 25-state free condom tour; advocates to hand out free condoms and offer free HIV testing
B-ROLL	70-foot, 18-wheel ‘Condom Nation’ big-rig with condoms & safer sex education materials

CHATTANOOGA

When:	Sunday, September 23^rd
	11:00 am to 4:00 pm
Where:	Walgreens 3605 Brainerd Rd, Chattanooga TN
	Partner Agency offering HIV testing: Chattanooga CARES
Contacts:
	James Vellequette, Director, AHF’s Condom Nation Tour, [phone] cell
	Jerry Evans Prevention Education Program Manager, Chattanooga CARES
	423-648-9916 office 423-645-9644 cell

AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s (AHF) ‘Condom-Nation’ tour—consisting of AHF’s specially-designed 70-foot long, 18 wheel ‘Condom Nation’ big rig truck and a companion ‘Condom Nation’ Sprinter van—arrive this week in Tennessee for free condom giveaways and HIV testing events taking place over the next two weeks throughout the Tar Heel State. The ‘Condom Nation Tour’—a groundbreaking 25-state, 40-city, nationwide tour to select cities, towns and states to hand out twenty million free condoms, provide safer sex information and free HIV testing in conjunction with local partners, pulls in to Chattanooga on Sunday, September 23^rd from 11:00 am until 4:00pm to partner with the Chattanooga CARES to give away free condoms and offer free HIV testing.

‘Condom Nation’ was launched earlier this year from the famed Boardwalk in Venice Beach, California as part of AHF’s worldwide observation of International Condom Day—an informal holiday observed annually on February 13^th in conjunction with Valentine’s Day.

“Condom Nation is a serious, yet somewhat whimsical and creative effort by AIDS Healthcare Foundation to help promote increased condom use and to help make condoms more accessible and affordable,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “Condoms are an essential part of preventing HIV and STDs. Not only are they extremely effective at preventing transmission, they are cheaper and easier to use than many other prevention tools. Our hope is that Condom Nation raises awareness and sparks conversations along the way—both on the coasts and in the heartland—about the importance of condoms and the crucial role they play in disease prevention and safer sex.”

Currently, there are approximately 48,000 new HIV infections and 19 million new STD infections every year in the United States.

Unfortunately, few people have reliable and affordable access to condoms. Recent studies show that when condoms are available and reasonably priced or at no cost, more people use them as a protective measure against STDs, HIV and unwanted pregnancies. In addition, the average $1 retail price per condom is offset by a production cost of only $.04, leaving $.96 for profit. Retail priced condoms are simply too expensive for many people to afford and locations providing free condoms are often geographically distant from those who need them.

“In order to better protect the public health, we need universal access to condoms and they need to be available at an extremely low cost,” said James Vellequette, Director for AHF’s ‘Condom Nation.’ “This tour is a national call to action and we are excited to be working with the Chattanooga CARES in Chattanooga to help achieve these goals.”

‘Condom Nation’ will:

• Partner with 40+ local agencies as the tour travels across more than 25 states to distribute ten million free condoms
• Educate and raise awareness about safe sex practices
• Promote the use of condoms through education and advertising
• Spearhead a national advocacy campaign to lower the price of condoms

Condom Nation Cities
Some of the cities the Condom Nation Tour will visit include Venice, CA (2/13/12 tour launch); Oakland, CA (Feb 17); Las Vegas, NV (Feb 21-25, condom & testing events various nights with local partners: South Nevada Health District Office of AIDS, The Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Southern Nevada and The Sin City Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence); Phoenix, AZ (Mar 1-2 with the Southwest Center for HIV/AIDS); Albuquerque, NM (Mar 7^th with New Mexico AIDS Services); Oklahoma City (Mar 9-11 with Guiding Light, Inc.) Ft. Worth, TX (Mar 13-14) Dallas, TX (Mar 15-16); San Antonio, TX (Mar 17-22) Houston, TX (Mar 22-24); Lafayette, LA (Mar 27 with Aspirations, Inc.) Baton Rouge, LA (Mar 28-31 with Aspirations, Inc.); Jackson, MS (April 13-14); Atlanta, GA (April 18-22, condom and testing with groups Citywide and ACT NOW!); Norfolk, VA, (April 23-28); Columbia, SC (May 4-5); Little Rock, AK (May 12); Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas (May 18-20); Kansas City, MO (May 24); Chicago, IL (May 26-27); Detroit, MI (May 29); Jersey City, NJ (June 1^st); Asbury Park, NJ (June 3^rd); Providence, Rhode Island (June 6-7); Brooklyn, NY (June 9); Philadelphia, PA (June 15); New York City, NY (June 17); Detroit, MI (June 23); Columbus, OH, (June 27) Indianapolis, IN, (June 29) Nashville, TN (July 6); Charlotte, SC (July 11) and Washington, DC, on July 22, 2012—where Condom Nation joined thousands of people for the ‘Keep the Promise’ on HIV/AIDS Treatment March— Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas (Aug 10-12); Fayetteville, NC (Sept 12); Raleigh, NC (Sept 14), Sumter, SC (Sept 15); NCC Univ (Sept 18); Greensboro, NC (Sept 19); Winston-Salem (Sept 20); Durham, NC (Sept 21); Chattanooga, TN (Sept 23); USCA-Las Vegas (Sept 29 – Oct 4) Condom Nation Tour for 2012 will conclude it’s 2012 tour at the United States Conference on AIDS September 29 – October 4.

According to a December 2011 HIV/AIDS Policy Fact Sheet produced by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the CDC reports that there are approximately 1.1 million people currently living with HIV/AIDS in the United States; an estimated 20% of these individuals do not even know they are infected. In addition, a new news posting published on February 15, 2012 on the website www.aidsmap.com reports that as many of half of all, “…new HIV transmissions in the US originate in individuals who are unaware that they are HIV-positive, a modelling study published in the online edition of AIDS estimates. Only 20% of HIV infections in the US are undiagnosed, but the investigators calculated that they were the source of 49% of all new onward transmissions

To learn more about Condom Nation and find resources to help your community, please visit www.condom-nation.org

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and/or services to more than 176,000 individuals in 27 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region and Eastern Europe. To learn more about AHF, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter: @aidshealthcare or @condomnation and as ‘CondomNation on Instagram for on the fly photos of the tour.