The Hispanic Federation and the Latino Commission on AIDS have chosen PR Newswire as the official newswire for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (NLAAD) 2004, the organizations announced today.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000306/PRNLOGO )

As the official newswire, PR Newswire will distribute all the news releases relating to this year's National Latino AIDS Awareness Day, on behalf of the event organizers, including announcements of local and national activities such as multicultural fairs, concerts, marches, AIDS testing and more, taking place around the country on October 15, National Latino AIDS Awareness Day.

"The AIDS epidemic is spreading into more segments of the Latino Community, and the health of those with AIDS is worsening. Even though more than 150,000 Latino AIDS cases have been reported, many more are unaware of their HIV positive status. Latinos continue to get tested later in their illness than African Americans and Whites. For this reason, I am deeply appreciative of the enormous efforts PR Newswire has contributed -- their efforts have assisted us tremendously in publicizing the importance of testing as it is a central focus of the organizers of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day," said Jose Calderon, Vice President, Hispanic Federation.

Through PR Newswire, all news releases in connection with this event will be distributed in both Spanish and English to thousands of media points, including television, radio, newspapers, trade press and magazines; more than 3,600 websites, online newspapers, databases and search engines; and will be accessible to the more than 76,000 journalists registered at PR Newswire for Journalists, http://www.prnewswire.com/media.

"For the second year in a row, PR Newswire is proud to extend our support to the Hispanic Federation and the Latino Commission on AIDS for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day," said Margarita C. Hernandez, Manager of Multicultural Markets for PR Newswire. "HIV/AIDS is a serious issue affecting the Latino community, and PR Newswire is glad to be able to provide the most comprehensive news distribution tools to assist the Hispanic Federation and the Latino Commission in getting their messages out to the widest audience possible, in both English and Spanish."

About the Hispanic Federation

Established in 1990 by a group of Hispanic leaders, the Hispanic Federation (HF), is a membership organization of 86 Latino health and human services agencies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The Hispanic Federation's member agencies work in the areas of education, health, elderly services, healthcare, HIV/AIDS, housing and economic development. Each year, these agencies serve more than 800,000 of the tri-state area's most underprivileged and vulnerable Latinos.

About the Latino Commission on AIDS

The Latino Commission on AIDS is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to improving and expanding health promotion, research, treatment and other services to the Latino community through organizing, education, model program development, capacity building & training.

About PR Newswire

Now in its 50th year, PR Newswire Association LLC (http://www.prnewswire.com/) provides electronic distribution, targeting, measurement, translation and broadcast services on behalf of some 40,000 corporate, government, association, labor, non-profit, and other customers worldwide who seek to reach a variety of critical audiences including the news media, the investment community, government decision-makers, and the general public with their up-to-the-minute, full-text news developments. Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in 14 countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries and in 30 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters, investors and individuals who seek breaking news from the source. PR Newswire's leading services include ProfNet(SM), eWatch™, MEDIAtlas™, NewsPrompt™, Search Engine Visibility (SEV) and MultiVu™. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.

   Contact:
   Jess Duran of Hispanic Federation, +1-212-233-8955 ext. 315 or
   jduran@hispanicfederation.org
   OR
   Rachel Asche, Director of Public Relations, PR Newswire,
   212.282.1929 or rachel.asche@prnewswire.com

Hispanic Federation

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000306/PRNLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, +1-888-776-6555 or +1-212-782-2840

SOURCE: PR Newswire Association LLC; Latino Commission on AIDS;