Is the AIDS Epidemic discriminating?

According to the latest statistics from the Center for Disease Control, Latinos are more likely to develop full-blown AIDS within one year of their HIV diagnosis than any other ethnic group.

In Los Angeles County, approximately 72% of Latinos develop full-blown AIDS within a year of receiving their HIV diagnosis. In light of these startling statistics, BIENESTAR, Speaker of the Assembly Fabian Nunez, Senator Gilbert Cedillo and the California Latino Legislative Caucus are calling on elected officials to take action and address this crisis. “Although the AIDS virus itself does not discriminate, the numbers clearly demonstrate that race and ethnicity are playing a role in who is most likely to develop full-blown AIDS,” stated Oscar De La O, President and CEO of BIENESTAR. “We are calling upon our elected officials to commit to solutions that specifically target Latinos and African-Americans.

Failing to do so will perpetuate the adverse impacts of poverty, stigma, and inadequate healthcare access on Latinos and other underserved communities,” added De La O.

In a legislative briefing, HIV experts and community activists will discuss the state of Latinos and HIV/AIDS in California, as well as proposals for policy solutions. Among the most startling data to be presented will be the results from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Supplement to HIV/AIDS Surveillance Project (SHAS) for Los Angeles County from 2000-2004.

The SHAS report revealed extremely high rates of late testing among Latinos. Late testing is defined as the development of AIDS within 12 months after first being diagnosed with HIV. Late testing denies individuals of the benefits of new treatment advancements, including life saving medications. Since late testers are likely to have been HIV positive without their knowledge for an unknown period of time, the likelihood that further transmission of the virus to other individuals occurred is significant. These findings are consistent with studies done in other parts of the state.

The study also indicated that women and individuals exposed via heterosexual contact were more likely to test late for HIV, suggesting that current methods of HIV/AIDS education and prevention do not reach far enough outside of those groups historically considered most at risk. Among the proposed policy solutions will be legislation to make sexual barrier protection devices, such as condoms, available in state correctional facilities. The current ban ignores the reality of sexual contact in prisons and leaves the prison population, a majority of which are Latino and African-American, unnecessarily vulnerable to HIV infection.

For more information at http://www.bienestar.org>