Nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) leverages its growing online community—including 456,517 Facebook Followers—to achieve advocacy successes in the U.S. & global HIV/AIDS fight
Organization also utilizes its “army” of online supporters to educate the public, using social media to disseminate accurate information about how HIV is transmitted, encouraging condom use and regular HIV & STD testing and helping to dismantle myths & stigma that still surround the disease 30 years after its discovery
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, today announced that its online community has surpassed 500,000 people, including 456,517 Facebook followers and 51,537 email sign ups. The group credits its rapidly growing community with bolstering recent advocacy efforts, including encouraging drug companies to lower HIV/AIDS drug prices for U.S. government programs, successfully urging President Obama to increase the U.S. commitment overseas and amplifying the reach of education and outreach messages on the web. AHF’s expanding online community is a major component in its efforts to forward the group’s mission to increase access to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention services worldwide.
“AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s online and social media community—known as ‘AHF Speak Out!’—has become a powerful army on the frontlines of the AIDS fight in the U.S. and globally,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. “From encouraging drug companies like Gilead to lower drug prices for struggling state programs, to posting and tweeting on World AIDS Day to help educate their peers, AHF’s supporters are truly a force for good. We would like to thank all of our more than 500,000 online members for joining AHF in the fight to increase access to lifesaving HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs in the U.S. and around the world.”
AHF’s e-community has played a key role in group’s recent advocacy victories. Supporters sent in 1,600 letters to drug company Gilead Sciences Inc. asking the company to lower prices for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs). Thousands of people living with HIV/AIDS have been on waiting lists to receive lifesaving medications from the cash-strapped program. In December 2011, Gilead responded with additional discounts for state program. A sustained campaign by AHF contributed to U.S. President Barack Obama’s announcement late last year that he would be increasing the treatment goals for global HIV/AIDS programs funded by the United States, including PEPFAR (the President’s Emergency Fund for AIDS Relief) by 2 million people. Thousands of supporters sent eletters to the President urging him to “keep the promise” on AIDS through the AHF site www.changeAIDSobama.org.
On World AIDS Day 2011, AHF advocates took to the web with the goal to educate their friends about HIV & AIDS. AHF’s passionate Facebook and Twitter fans shared, posted and tweeted messages with important facts about HIV/AIDS, as well as prevention and treatment information from the campaign page: http://www.aidshealth.org/worldaidsday. Nearly one million people were reached with the important message that there is still a lot of work to be done in the fight against HIV/AIDS. AHF’s World AIDS Day social media public awareness campaign was featured in Social Media Today and PR Week.
A major strength of AHF’s online community lies in its diversity, particularly with regards to geography. There are supporters in every region in which AHF operates—the U.S., Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe—as well as in all 50 states of the U.S. A truly global coalition will be represented when the group spearheads its March on Washington D.C. scheduled for the opening day of the 2012 International AIDS Conference. The “Keep the Promise” March and Rally will bring together thousands of AIDS advocates in the heart of Washington, D.C. to remind world leaders and policy makers that the AIDS epidemic remains a global threat to public health.
AHF’s online community includes 456,517 Facebook (www.facebook.com/aidshealth) followers, 7,585 Twitter followers (@aidshealthcare), 4,886 Tumblr followers and 51,537 members of its website’s e-community—for a total of 520,525 online supporters. This represents more than 400% growth during the last two and a half years—from just over 100,000 online supporters in August 2009. In addition to Facebook and Twitter, AHF also has a strong presence on Flickr, YouTube and Google+.
AHF’s Facebook page is particularly active, with several new posts per day. The top ten countries from which AHF’s Facebook followers are from are: India, Indonesia, United States, Kenya, Brazil, Greece, Thailand, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Australia and United Kingdom.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to more than 124,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe. For more information, please visit our website: www.aidshealth.org, find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aidshealth and follow us on Twitter @aidshealthcare.
CONTACT:
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
Lori Yeghiayan Friedman, Office: 323-308-1834
Assoc. Director of Communications
Cell: 323-377-4312
[email protected]
or
Ged Kenslea, Office: 323-308-1833
Communications Director
Cell: 323-791-5526
[email protected]
KEYWORDS: United States North America California District of Columbia
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Other Consumer Technology Internet Health AIDS Public Policy/Government Healthcare Reform White House/Federal Government Social Media Philanthropy Communications Advertising Marketing Consumer Foundation
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