By Chris Webb/nw news editor

More than a million people in the United States live with HIV, and as many as 27 percent of those people are unaware of their condition, according to findings from a National HIV Prevention Conference.

AIDS has become a global epidemic, but many don’t have all the facts.

NW Campus student activities plans to separate fact from fiction Friday, Feb. 22, with AIDS Awareness Day11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in WSTU 1305. The program will begin with complementary lunch and drinks and a presentation by Dr. Joe Brown, professor of theater and speech at Texas Wesleyan University, long-term AIDS survivor and avid activist.

At 12:30 p.m. an informative panel will clear up some of the myths surrounding HIV.

Panel members include Sue Mahoney, housing specialist volunteer coordinator at Fort Worth’s Samaritan House; Ted Lavato, vice president and chief operations officer at Fort Worth’s Samaritan House; Memie Hardie, Tarrant County AIDS education specialist, and Brown.

Bobbi Stringer, NW Campus professor of speech, said this program will serve as a great benefit to students by making them more aware of what is going on in the world around them.

“This program will have a profound impact on any who attend,” she said. “And those who have seen Dr. Brown speak in the past can’t wait to see him again.”

NW Campus also will participate in the More Life Festival starting May 10. The month-long community festival is designed to educate the public and reduce the stigma associated with AIDS. 

NW contributions to the event will include a film, artwork and Voices, a publication by Marine Creek Reflections.