Awareness Day Inspires New Apps
Duane Cramer, an acclaimed photographer and HIV advocate, today joins the national HIV education campaign I Design. Duane has partnered with Project Runway star Mondo Guerra, who served as the voice of the campaign in 2012, to help empower people living with HIV to work with their doctors and approach HIV treatment “through their own lens.” The I Design campaign traveled the United States in 2012, and is embarking on its second year on the road this National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, including the launch of interactive digital tools to help with HIV management.

“As a person who has lived with HIV for a long time, I’ve learned that self-expression is incredibly important, especially when it comes to working with my doctor on a treatment plan,” said Cramer. “I look forward to helping people living with HIV understand the importance of an open and ongoing dialogue with their healthcare provider to manage this chronic disease.”

An internationally known photographer, Duane has lived with HIV for nearly two decades. He is also a passionate activist for HIV awareness and education, particularly for the African-American community, which is disproportionately affected by the disease. Since being diagnosed as HIV-positive, HIV has become his artistic lens, no matter the subject. Some of his most rewarding work, through his photography and his personal life, comes from bringing attention to African-Americans living with HIV. Duane lost his father Joe J. Cramer, Jr., PhD, an accomplished academician, to the disease in 1986, and later created a panel for the AIDS Memorial Quilt in his honor with his mothers and sisters. He served as board member emeritus for the NAMES Project Foundation – AIDS Memorial Quilt.

“Over the last year, I’ve been inspired by the many voices within the HIV community and want to continue reaching more people with the I
Design message of working with your doctor in taking a tailored approach to your HIV treatment,” said Guerra. “The experience has been truly rewarding and I’m looking forward to working with Duane to continue sharing our messages about managing your HIV and the importance of patient-physician collaboration.”

The “My Health Matters” and “My Positive Agenda” mobile and desktop apps – now available on www.ProjectIDesign.com – include a symptom and medication tracker, which can create reports to make it easy to share information with your healthcare team.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was commemorated to increase HIV awareness and advance HIV prevention, testing, and treatment among blacks in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, African-Americans face the most severe burden of HIV compared to all racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Despite representing approximately 14 percent of the U.S. population in 2009, African-Americans accounted for nearly 45 percent of all new HIV infections in that year and account for a higher proportion of HIV infections at all stages of disease — from new infections to deaths.