Established in 1988, World AIDS Day allows the people of the world to show support for people living with and affected by HIV, and to commemorate people who have lost their lives to AIDS. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided an urgent reminder that pandemics can devastate communities, lives, and livelihoods. The theme for World AIDS Day 2020 is “Ending the HIV/AIDS Epidemic: Resilience and Impact.”
National Hispanic Heritage Month invites us to celebrate the Latinx community. The Year 2020 has been a challenging year and a difficult one to celebrate. The COVID-19 pandemic, opioid and suicide epidemics, an economic slowdown with widespread unemployment, and racial unrest simultaneously impact the nation yet affect the Latinx community especially hard.
The value of prevention cannot be overstated. Particularly, in these difficult times, we know that many may turn to substances to cope with the new stressors we are all now faced with.
SAMHSA is one of several collaborating HHS agencies leading the Ending the HIV Epidemic: A Plan for America. SAMHSA’s goal is to improve prevention, increase testing frequency, and increase referrals and support linkage to HIV treatment when necessary. SAMHSA has concentrated 70 percent of the Minority AIDS initiative grantees within the 48 identified areas with the highest number of new HIV cases.
SAMHSA’s 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) estimates that 1.1 million Hispanic/Latino youth used illicit drugs in the past year, including 208,000 who misused opioids in the past year.
A new school year often brings a fresh start for children and their families. A new opportunity to wake up on time, get homework done early, and accomplish academic goals together. For parents, it’s also a time to revisit conversations with their children about alcohol and other drugs. According to SAMHSA’s 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, an estimated 2.2 million adolescents ages 12-17 and 18.8 million young adults ages 18 to 25 had consumed alcohol in the past month.