28 April, 2014
BROOKLYN, New York. – In an effort to help reduce HIV/AIDS incidents among the immigrant populations living in Brooklyn, the Batey Relief Alliance (BRA) received funding from the New York State Department of Health-AIDS Institute to carry out public health campaigns to educate families and the youth about contraction, preventive measures and treatment. “BRA initiated the program in 2007 and used radio airwaves to reach thousands of individuals who may be at risk, are afraid of coming out, or do not have the knowledge about where to receive help,” said Ulrick Gaillard, BRA’s CEO.
According to recent health studies, new infections disproportionately affect the black and Hispanic communities, which accounted for nearly 80 percent of the newly diagnosed cases. The majority live in central Brooklyn neighborhoods — Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Williamsburg, Bushwick and East Flatbush — areas that are already home to the city’s largest group of those living with the disease.
BRA’s New York AIDS Awareness campaign is an expansion of the organization’s comprehensive HIV/AIDS program in the Dominican Republic providing free testing, counseling, antiretroviral therapy, medical services, medicines, nutrition and micronutrients, and clean drinking water to more than 450 people living with HIV and AIDS and children who are orphaned and vulnerable in the impoverished rural “batey” communities.
