About Act Against AIDS™

What is Act Against AIDS™?

Act Against AIDS (AAA) is a five-year national campaign launched by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the White House to combat complacency about HIV and AIDS in the United States. Launched in 2009, Act Against AIDS focuses on raising awareness among all Americans and reducing the risk of infection among the hardest-hit populations – gay and bisexual men, African Americans, Latinos, and other communities at increased risk.

Act Against AIDS consists of several concurrent HIV prevention campaigns and uses mass media (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet) to deliver important HIV prevention messages. All campaigns support the comprehensive HIV prevention efforts of CDC and the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). Act Against AIDS also supports the Act Against AIDS Leadership Initiative (AAALI), a network of national-level organizations that focus on African Americans, black men who have sex with men (MSM), and the Latino community.

For more information, read the AIDS Against AIDS original press release, the AAALI expansion announcement, and the campaign's one-year and two-year reports.

Let's Stop HIV Together™

The Let’s Stop HIV Together campaign raises awareness about HIV and its impact on the lives of all Americans, and fights stigma by showing that persons with HIV are real people—mothers, fathers, friends, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters, partners, wives, husbands, and co-workers.

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Testing Makes Us Stronger™

The Testing Makes Us Stronger campaign encourages black gay and bisexual men ages 18-44 (with an emphasis on 18-24 year-olds) to get tested for HIV. The campaign includes ads in national magazines and targeted websites, as well as local advertising and materials distribution in targeted cities. The campaign also includes a Facebook page and a dedicated website with a suite of campaign materials available for individuals and organizations to download and distribute.

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Take Charge. Take the Test.™

Take Charge. Take the Test.™ is a multi-faceted social marketing initiative designed to increase HIV testing among African American women.

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HIV Screening. Standard Care.™

CDC recommends that all Americans aged 13 to 64 be screened for HIV as a routine part of their medical care.

HIV Screening. Standard Care. targets primary care providers, gynecologists, and other health care providers to help them promote routine HIV testing during patient visits.

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One Test. Two Lives.™

One Test. Two Lives. offers health care providers information and resources to encourage them to test pregnant women for HIV infection and help reduce the number of infants born with HIV.

The phase uses simple messages: 1) Pregnant women are likely to get tested for HIV if their providers strongly recommend it; 2) Screening for HIV early in a pregnancy benefits both mother and baby; and 3) It's never too late for a pregnant woman to get tested.

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Prevention IS Care™

The Prevention IS Care™ phase encourages providers who treat patients with HIV to screen their HIV-infected patients for risky transmission behaviors, and remind HIV-infected patients about the importance of protecting themselves and others by reducing risky behaviors.

The phase gives health care providers evidence-based intervention tools, such as posters and patient education materials, as well as continuing education opportunities.

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Greater Than AIDS

Greater Than AIDS is a partner-led initiative supported by Act Against AIDS that helps confront stigma and engage communities heavily affected by the disease. Initially focusing on African Americans, Greater Than AIDS recently launched an effort to reach gay and bisexual men of all races.

Greater Than AIDS includes public service advertising across and array of media platforms, special programming and editorial content, a dedicated Web site, and a mobile component.

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Past Campaign Phases

9½ Minutes™

The 9 ½ Minutes™ campaign was the first campaign developed under CDC's Act Against AIDS umbrella campaign. This initiative was designed to combat complacency and raise awareness of the continued severity and toll of the domestic HIV epidemic by delivering the message that every 9½ minutes someone in the United States is infected with HIV. The 9 ½ minutes estimate was calculated by breaking down the estimated number of total HIV infections every year by minutes.

The 9 ½ Minutes campaign phase ended in June 2011. Currently research shows that even though people continue to be infected with HIV every day, the estimate has been updated from the previous calculation of every 9 ½ Minutes. There are still more than one million people living with HIV in the United States.

To access campaign materials associated with this campaign click here.

Know Where You Stand™
Know Where You Stand was the first phase of CDC's HIV testing campaign for black gay and bisexual men. The campaign was developed to help address the urgent need to reduce HIV infections among black gay and bisexual men. Recent studies found that almost 60 percent of black gay and bisexual men with HIV were unaware they were infected. Know Where You Stand highlighted the importance of HIV testing through online banner advertisements, bus and billboard ads in key cities and activities at Black Pride events. The Know Where You Stand campaign ended in Fall 2011 when a new effort for black gay and bisexual men, Testing Makes Us Stronger was launched.