PHS Pacificare Hlth Sys

* Latinas and HIV/AIDS Summit at University Student Ballroom at California State University, Long Beach LONG BEACH, Calif., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The California State University Long Beach chapter of National Council of La Raza is presenting the Latinas and HIV/AIDS Summit Thursday, Dec. 1, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the University Student Ballroom at California State University, Long Beach. The event is free to the public, with prior reservation, and will feature a distinguished panel of guests and speakers as well as community leaders, research experts and policy advisers, including Lupe Ontiveros, star of "Desperate Housewives," U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis and National Council of La Raza President and Chief Executive Officer Janet Murguia. Dr. Maria Rangel of the Centers for Disease Control and Dr. Monica Alonso of the Pan American Health Organization are also attending. Sponsored by Cypress, Calif.-based PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. (NYSE:PHS), the Latinas and HIV/AIDS Summit enables attendees to learn more about the many factors affecting the risk of infection among Latinas from some of the country's leading HIV/AIDS researchers and experts. "As one of the nation's largest consumer health organizations, PacifiCare strives each day to exemplify our motto, 'Caring is good. Doing something is better,'" said Russell Bennett, PacifiCare's vice president of Latino Health Solutions. "That includes supporting those living with HIV and AIDS and working in the areas of education and prevention to curb the spread of the disease. By sponsoring the Latinas and HIV/AIDS Summit, we can further demonstrate our dedication to improving the health and quality of life of our members." In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced at its 2005 National HIV Prevention Conference that about 1.1 million people living in the United States are HIV-positive -- the highest number ever recorded in the country. In addition, an estimated 25 percent of HIV-positive individuals are unaware of their status. "The statistics reported by the CDC on HIV infection are simply staggering, and we felt that we must take action to reach out to our communities and support awareness and education to help prevent the spread of this disease," added Bennett. "We cannot ignore the fact that Latinos are among the hardest hit by HIV and AIDS. Next year marks the 25th year of the AIDS epidemic in the United States. Rather than celebrating the disease's demise, we will most likely be witnessing the highest number of people nationwide ever afflicted in its history." Earlier this year, in an effort to help stop the nationwide spread of HIV and AIDS among African Americans, PacifiCare donated $19,000 to help support HIV education and National HIV Testing Day, June 27. Of that, $9,000 went to 18 churches statewide to help offset the cost of providing prevention education and free HIV testing to their local communities. Also, in August the PacifiCare Foundation, PacifiCare's philanthropic arm, sponsored the Video Industry AIDS Action Committee's (VIAAC) third annual fund raiser benefiting the UCLA AIDS Institute, "The Sideways Wine Tour." The event included a silent auction, complimentary wine-tasting reception and presentation to guests highlighting the latest breakthroughs and developments in HIV and AIDS treatments. VIAAC and the UCLA AIDS Institute are part of a long list of AIDS organizations that PacifiCare supports, which includes the AIDS Service Center in Pasadena and the Heart Touch project in Santa Monica. About PacifiCare PacifiCare Health Systems is one of the nation's largest consumer health organizations with nearly 3.3 million health plan members and approximately 11.3 million specialty plan members nationwide. PacifiCare offers individuals, employers and Medicare beneficiaries a variety of consumer-driven health care and life insurance products. Specialty plan operations include behavioral health, dental and vision, and complete pharmacy benefit management through its wholly owned subsidiary, Prescription Solutions. More information on PacifiCare Health Systems is available at http://www.pacificare.com/. "Caring is good. Doing something is better." is a service mark of PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. DATASOURCE: PacifiCare Health Systems CONTACT: Dan Miller of PHS Media Relations, +1-714-226-3726, Web site: http://www.pacificare.com/

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