The fact that New Orleans is number two in the country for new cases of HIV and AIDS (with Baton Rouge being number three) is frightening. The reasons why an epidemic is hitting Southeast Louisiana may vary, but most believe it is due to poor education and lack of awareness of the issue. The New Orleans Society for Infectious Disease Awareness (NOSIDA) wants to fix that. NOSIDA is a local non-profit organization formed by Tulane School of Medicine physician Dr. MarkAlain Déry to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS in the city. The organization conveys potentially life-saving information to people through a universal medium—music. They believe musicians are especially influential to youth, those most at-risk for HIV.

Meschiya Lake and MarkAlain Dery demonstrating HIV Testing.

This year, NOSIDA will be hosting their second annual HIV Awareness Music Project (HAMP). According to Dr. Dery, the concert will feature local musicians who will demonstrate how easy HIV testing has become by undergoing mock HIV tests on stage, which involve swabbing their mouths with a small testing stick. Dery says, “Our aim is show how easy it is to be tested for HIV and that HIV awareness empowers people to make healthy decisions.” Also, actual HIV testing will be available on site. Dery says the goal of on-site testing is to “ultimately get people who are [HIV] positive into care…to help decrease the transmission of the disease.”

Performers this year run the gamut from rockers Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Intimate Stranger (from Chile) and local indie super-group Big History, to the Fleur de Tease burlesque group, veteran rapper Truth Universal, teen R&B sensation Kourtney Heart, and bounce rappers Katey Red and Vockah Redu. There will also be a raffle and HIV awareness booths courtesy of the local HIV service community. HAMP takes place at One Eyed Jacks Saturday, December 11. For more information, visit NOSIDA.org.