BUSINESS WIRE; Monday, June 8, 1998
According to the new Executive Director, Andy Ilves, the declining AIDS death rate in the United States has contributed to public perception that the epidemic is over. "The new HIV treatments available to many Americans have reduced the number of AIDS fatalities dramatically, but tens of thousands of Americans are still dying of AIDS every year," said Ilves. "And millions are dying world-wide."
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the annual number of deaths from AIDS in the United States to have been 35,000 in 1996, down from 48,000 in 1995.
While complete statistics from 1997 are not yet available, early data suggests that an even greater decline in deaths will be seen, due to increased access by Americans to "combination therapy," the mixture of potent anti-HIV drugs now being used by many AIDS patients. "Many people would like to believe that these numbers signal and end to the epidemic, but unfortunately that is simply not true. The new drugs have reduced the deaths, but we have not seen a reduction in transmission of the virus which causes AIDS," said Ilves.
NAMES Project Founder Cleve Jones echoed Ilves' concern. "We are grateful for the advances in HIV treatments, but we must be mindful that we still have not found a cure or a vaccine. We know that the virus which causes AIDS mutates rapidly and is likely to eventually develop resistance to all the current treatments. The current drop in the death rate will prove to be temporary unless better treatments are found soon."
Ilves and Jones both expressed concern that while annual AIDS deaths have declined overall, the decline has not been significant among African Americans, who have been disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. CDC estimates that, as of June 1997, 36 percent of U.S. AIDS cases are among African Americans, who represent only 13 percent of the total U.S. population.
"Clearly, the epidemic continues to spread within the African American community, " said Ilves. "We must work harder to strengthen prevention efforts targeting African Americans, and to ensure that potentially life-saving treatments are accessible to all, regardless of race or income."
"We are seeing the epidemic takes disproportionate toll on communities already facing many other health and socio-economic problems," commented Helene Gayle, M.D., M.P.H. Director of CDC's National Center fro HIV, STD and TB Prevention. "It is essential that public health and community leaders work together to mobilize prevention and treatment efforts in communities most affected by HIV."
Duane Cramer, who is a member of the NAMES Project Board of Directors and an African American, lost his father to AIDS over a decade ago. Cramer cites a particular imperative that new panels come from communities of color since "the Quilt does not yet proportionally reflect the changing face of this epidemic."
Cramer, who is a panel maker, is currently on a paid one year leave of absence from Xerox Corporation. He is focusing his efforts on HIV prevention among youth through the NAMES Project National High School Quilt Program. We especially need people to make panels for those they have lost to AIDS who are part of the communities being hit the hardest by this epidemic. (A recent CDC analysis of data collected from 25 states with integrated HIV and AIDS surveillance found that 64 percent of new HIV infections in these states are among African American and Latino communities.)
Cramer points out, "When young people see an image of a person in their likeness on the Quilt, they begin to realize that HIV and AIDS can happen to them."
The NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was started by Cleve Jones in 1987 to illustrate the human loss of the AIDS crisis. The subsequent enormity of this loss of human life was dramatically evident at the last display of the entire Quilt in Washington D.C. in October of 1996 when its 40,000 panels covered the entire National Mall.
"As much as we want this tragedy to end, it is important for all Americans to understand that AIDS is not over, people are still dying and the fight must continue," said Jones.
New panels can be sent directly to the NAMES Project Foundation at 310 Townsend Street, San Francisco, California 94107 or turned in at any of the many displays of the Quilt across the country. For information about upcoming Quilt displays visit the NAMES Project website http//:www.aidsquilt.org or call 415/882-5500.
CONTACT: NAMES Project Foundation Scott Miller, 415/882-5569 X301
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