VANESSA WILLIAMS - STARS SIGN UP FOR PRESS AIDS TEST

STARS SIGN UP FOR PRESS AIDS TEST

UGLY BETTY star VANESSA WILLIAMS, NICK CANNON and RAY actress REGINA KING are all getting tested for HIV as part of a new drive to urge African-Americans to get tested for AIDS. The trio will be part of a Los Angeles press conference which will take place two days before America's National HIV Testing Day at the end of June (27Jun07). As part of the press stunt, the stars will officially be tested for HIV. Event spokeswoman Linda Jones says, "The purpose of the press conference is to draw attention to the AIDS epidemic in the black community and to urge people, particularly black people, to get tested. "Black Americans, more than any other racial ethnic group, are disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. Of the 1.3 million Americans living with HIV/AIDS nearly 50% of them are black." And organisers of the hard-hitting press conference are hoping to persuade other big name African-American stars to step forward and get tested. The spokesman adds, "Our goal is to get a broad cross section of actors to participate in the press conference." Each star will be tested for HIV and then they'll talk about the experience and how important they think it is for fellow African-Americans to get tested.