I am the Commission: Liliana Ranon and her believe that we haven't been as effective fighting HIV and much needs to be done.
Liliana Ranon is the National Latino AIDS Awareness Day Director. She was born in Tijuana, Mexico and grew up in San Diego California. Very often she gets Asian or Filipino but she is 100% sure her heritage is Mexican. Liliana began playing the violin at age 9 and did so until she was 18. She hasn't played the violin since but she is sure the skills are still there and very soon she will put music back to her life. Liliana received a bachelor degree in Political Science with concentration in International Relations on the Middle East and Latin America from Northeastern University. She had the opportunity to travel to Egypt to study the political system in its attempt to have the first democratically open presidential elections.
  You have been the director of the National Latino AIDS Awareness Day for 4 years. How has this initiative evolved over the years?
 I have worked at the Latino Commission on AIDS since 2006 where I began as the Coordinator for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day. I became the Director in 2008 and since 2006, the NLAAD network has grown from 260 to 430 and our reach has expanded to 43 states including Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Washington, DC. More work is being done to collaborate with national organizations like the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) whose work with State Health Department AIDS Directors has increased the number of Health Departments that are engaged in NLAAD. Planned Parenthood Federation of American (PPFA) is another organization with a national reach of over 900 affiliate offices that has increased the number of Planned Parenthood clinics that are planning NLAAD activities around the country.
There are many awareness days for many diseases. Do you find them effective?
The need for multiple awareness days on different diseases is necessary because there is a lot of information that the public doesn't know and these awareness days help the public understand specific details about what can be at times, complicated issues. It is a good way for the public to become more aware of multiple health issues and/or get information on additional resources, contact information, etc.
However, there needs to be more integration of some of these health campaigns into each other because many times one specific population can be and is affected by many other diseases at the same time.
From your experience, do you think the Latino Community is listening and acting upon the HIV prevention messages?
As a member of the HIV/AIDS activist community more needs to be done so that the messages that are being delivered to the Latino community are simple, direct and that take into account all the different factors that impact peoples behaviors. The reason why the community is still getting infected is because we haven't been as effective or as all inclusive of all the different reasons why people engage in high risk activities and we need to do a better job at incorporating all of these issues into the messages.
You have a twin sister. Is she a fierce advocate for minorities rights as well?
My twin sister is an indirect advocate for minority rights. She supports me and my work and through her support her involvement is felt.
Will you ever run for office?
When I was in high school one of my aspirations for studying Political Science was so that I can learn how the system works so that one day I can run for office. That may still be an option for me in the future.
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