Black state board of education leaders from across the nation will meet to strategize about ways in which public schools can help address the HIV and STD crises among African-Americans and to highlight the clear link between risky sexual behaviors and academic performance on May 28-30, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia.
The conference is being hosted by the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and is being held at the CDC's Thomas R. Harkin Global Communication Center. The meeting represents the largest exclusive gathering of African-American state education leaders in the country's history.
The impact of HIV/AIDS among African-Americans is staggering, and the racial disparities in HIV infections among young people are particularly severe. Though African-Americans only make up approximately 13% of the U.S. population, a recent CDC multi-year analysis found that blacks made up half (51%) of all new HIV cases. Among youth aged 13-24, blacks account for 61 percent of HIV infections.
Key Speakers and Conference Highlights: