Of the more than one million people in the United States who are living with HIV/AIDS, nearly half are African American. Moreover, the HIV/AIDS infection rates in Washington, D.C. have surpassed the threshold for a severe epidemic three times over and Black women account for more than 90 percent of all women infected with the virus in the nation's capitol. On Tuesday, December 1 at 6:00 p.m.*, World AIDS Day, BET shines a light on these alarming statistics by dedicating a full episode of the Network's hit music countdown show, 106 & PARK, to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic. Throughout the week, BET and its Emmy Award-winning pro-social initiative Rap-It-Up will zero in on the epidemic in Washington, D.C. by partnering with The Magic Johnson Foundation, The National Medical Association, Metro Teen AIDS, radio station WPGC-FM and the D.C. campus community.

SCHEDULE FOR BET'S Rap-It-Up CAMPAIGN INITIATIVES IN WASHINGTON, D.C.

GOD ME & HIV: November 30, 2009 at 6:30 p.m.

Event: movie premiere partnership with The National Medical Association

Location: Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20001

TEEN FORUM: December 1, 2009 at 9:30 a.m.

Event: BET Networks and The Magic Johnson Foundation Partner for open discussion with D.C. teens

Location: Duke Ellington School of The Arts, 3500 R Street NE Washington, DC 20007

WORLD AIDS DAY "YO LISTEN UP" DISCUSSION: December 1, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.

Event: BET Networks and D.C. radio station WPGC-FM partner for "Wrap For Life Youth Summit"

Location: Union Temple Baptist Church, 3850 Nebraska Ave. N.W. Washington, DC 20007

REALTALK FESTIVAL: Friday, December 4 at 6:00 p.m.

Event: BET Networks partners with Metro Teen AIDS and Realtalk DC for free testing, music and education

Location: The Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H. Street, NE Washington, D.C.

*For more on BET's 106 & PARK, please visit http://www.bet.com/106

*For more information about Rap It Up, please visit: http://www.rapituppresents.com/

*All times ET/PT

About Rap-It-Up

Since 1998, BET has partnered with the Kaiser Family Foundation on Rap-It-Up, a comprehensive public education campaign designed to inform young people about sexual health issues, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The award-winning campaign features special news programs, documentaries, public service announcements, online content, a U.S. toll-free hotline, community forums, mobile HIV testing events and school curricula.

About The Henry J. Kaiser Foundation

The Kaiser Family Foundation is a non-profit, private operating foundation dedicated to providing information and analysis on health issues to policymakers, the media, and the general public. It is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries. Information on HIV/AIDS is available at http://www.kff.org/, and a daily news summary report on developments in HIV/AIDS.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 97 million households and can be seen in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and the United Kingdom. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

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