More than a thousand Iowans are now reported living with H-I-V. A state conference is underway today in Des Moines to brainstorm on ways to reduce the numbers of people who become infected with the potential killer disease.
Patricia Young is the H-I-V/AIDS program manager at the Iowa Department of Public Health. She’s helping coordinate the two-day conference, which began Tuesday. Young says it’s drawn hundreds of people involved with H-I-V to the Capitol City.
One of the speakers is a woman who contracted H-I-V from her boyfriend when she was 18. Jennifer Jako is now 28 and is an artist, documentary filmmaker and activist. Young says Jako is an example of how you can face adversity and win. Young says the AIDS and H-I-V numbers in Iowa are starting to level off, but she says they want to see a decrease, that’s whey they’re working to educate people.
The conference concludes this afternoon at the Des Moines Marriott.
