News 12 at 11 o'clock, December 1, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga. --- According to the Centers for Disease Control, there are currently over 2500 cases of HIV reported in the Augusta area, the third highest number of reported cases of AIDS in Georgia.

On Monday an AIDS Awareness March was held at Paine College. There's a lot that advocates are doing in the fight against the deadly disease. Getting educated and getting tested are key to beating the disease, and tonight's group is hopeful that doing both will bring down the HIV rate in Augusta.

Each year, more and more cases of HIV and AIDS are reported in the CSRA. According to health officials, with the education and treatments available that number should be decreasing, but that's not the case.

The message that health professionals and so many others at Paine College are trying to get out is that we are all connected to the disease and all affected. That's why it is important to get tested and know your status.

Paine College received a $255,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to provide information about HIV and AIDS to increase access to health-care facilities for citizens in underserved areas of Augusta. Paine College is also joining with the Augusta Division of New Tools, New Vision, which works with historically black colleges to reduce health disparities in Georgia.