The Virginia Department of Health calls on faith leaders to join a new wave of African American clergy supporting the fight against HIV/AIDS among black Virginians.

As National Black AIDS Awareness Day approaches on Feb. 7, the weight of HIV/AIDS still falls heavily on blacks in Virginia. Sixty-two percent of the approximately 21,000 Virginians living with HIV are black, according to the Virginia Department of Health. Black women account for 77 percent of women living with HIV/AIDS in the Commonwealth. Public health officials say that faith leaders and their institutions are essential to changing those trends.

"Faith institutions serve as a spiritual, moral and cultural center of many black communities," said Marquietta Alston, VDH's Assistant Director of HIV Prevention. "People tend to be more open to receiving prevention messages when those messages come from respected people in their community."

Faith leaders can influence community perceptions about HIV, homosexuality, behaviors that can reduce risk and promote testing and entrance into health care…