Florida AIDS Action changes name (10515)

The board of Florida AIDS Action last week voted to change the name of the organization to the AIDS Institute to better reflect the agency's advocacy, education, and public policy work. Publications for the agency also will carry the new tagline "action for social change." "As the AIDS pandemic continues to evolve, so has the work of our agency," said Marylin Merida, board president. "The AIDS Institute is a name that more appropriately depicts who we are today as a national nonprofit agency and leader in the field of HIV/AIDS as well as where we are headed as we continue our mission to promote action for social change through public policy research, advocacy, and community education." Among the institute's recent accomplishments have been the development of the Center for Advocacy Training; the opening of an office in Washington, D.C., that will focus on federal policy efforts; collaboration with the University of South Florida in the creation of the Center for Public Policy Research and Ethics; and the implementation of the Center for Global Mobilization, which has an initial emphasis on the Caribbean and Central America. The institute also focuses on state policy and public funding of HIV/AIDS and other health care work in Florida. For more information about the organization, go online to www.theaidsinstitute.org.