In partnership with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health and the White House Council on Women and Girls, the White House Office of National AIDS Policy convened a meeting in recognition of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day that will bring together community groups, local health organizations, adolescent and teenage girls, national organizations and research experts to discuss the issue of HIV/AIDS and its impact on women, young women and girls.

The event was live-streamed at http://www.whitehouse.gov/live and is available on YouTube:

Opening remarks
Jeffrey S. Crowley (Office of National AIDS Policy)

What Can YOU Do: Take Action
Congresswoman Donna Christensen (U.S. Virgin Islands)

Framing the Discussion: Epidemiological Overview
Gina Brown (Office of AIDS Research, NIH)

Panel 1 Discussion: Taking Action Against HIV/AIDS: Effective Strategies for Prevention
Moderator: Janet Cleveland (Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, CDC)
Panelists: A. Toni Young (Community Education Group)
Cristina Pena (Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation)
Barbara Joseph (Positive Efforts, Inc.)

Panel 2 Discussion: Getting the Help You Need: Access to Care
Moderator: Frances Ashe-Goins (Office of Women’s Health, HHS)
Panelists: Mardge Cohen (Rush University)
Heather Hauck (Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene)
Hadiyah Charles (Suffolk University)

Panel 3 Discussion: What Can YOU Do – Take Action?: Social Marketing and Messaging Techniques
Moderator: Mark Ishaug (AIDS United)
Panelists: Regan Hofmann (POZ Magazine)
Susannah Fox (Pew Research Center)
Cheryl Smith (AIDS Institute, New York State Department of Health)

Closing Remarks
Tina Tchen (Office of the First Lady)

On Panel 3, which begins at around 1:45:00, Susannah Fox presented the Pew Internet Project’s latest research on peer-to-peer healthcare and mobile access to health information as context for the conversation, including the following points:

  • Nine in ten teenagers go online. Eight in ten teenagers between 14-17 years old have a cell phone. Eight in ten online teens between 14-17 years old use social networking sites. The numbers are lower among adults, but not by much. Internet and social network use only drop down significantly around age 65. The internet gives us access not only to information, but also to each other.
  • Eight in ten internet users age 18+ gather health information online. 17% of cell phone users have used their phone to look up health or medical information. According to Yahoo’s data, three out of the five most popular health searches on cell phones have to do with sex. The mobile internet is a just-in-time, wherever-you-are health information resource.
  • Mobile, social technology is changing our frame of reference so that we see information as portable, personalized, and participatory.
  • None of the organizations or individuals in this room can control the conversation about HIV, but they can contribute to it.
  • Pew Internet’s research shows that a majority of internet users still turn to a health professional with their health questions, but 1 in 5 internet users look online for “someone like them” to provide advice. That number is higher among people living with a chronic disease and among those who have experienced a significant health change in the past year.
  • There is a parallel health system online, powered by people connecting with each other, and now is the time to tap into it.
  • Take this opportunity to regroup. Tap in to people’s instincts to share and their ability to do so. Seed the conversation with what you know. Let your audience become your agents.