PR Newswire; Wednesday September 16, 1998

NBCSL President Lois DeBerry said the group focused on HIV/AIDS because of the devastation in the communities of its membership. "Today, what is crystal clear is that AIDS is a deadly killer, and that it is killing far too many people in America, especially African Americans."

AIDS is currently the leading cause of death among African Americans between the ages of 25 and 44.(1) More than one third -- 35 percent -- of all reported AIDS cases and 43 percent of new AIDS cases are among African Americans, even though African Americans compromise only 12 percent of the U.S. population. While AIDS-related deaths have declined, due in large part to the availability of new drugs, the rate of decline has been much slower among African Americans.(2)

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, (D-CA), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, which issued a call to action on the AIDS crisis, and Congressman Louis Stokes,(D-Ohio), spoke to the group about the work of the CBC on the federal level to garner and direct funds to the states for HIV/AIDS. President DeBerry said," (Cong. Waters') call to action on this epidemic is an important milestone because it serves notice that African American legislators at the state and federal level will focus on this crisis in a United and comprehensive manner.

U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher told the group that HIV/AIDS is an epidemic of major proportions. Globally, he said, there are now over 30 million people infected with the AIDS virus, with more than 90% of the cases in Africa and in Southeast Asia. That reflects the AIDS crisis in America, Satcher said. "The AIDS epidemic in this country has become increasingly an epidemic of people of color, of the young and increasingly and epidemic of women." In 1977, he said, 66% of AIDS cases reported are in African Americans and Hispanics.

Vowing to be instigators in elevating the conversation on the problem of HIV/AIDS in their communities, NBCSL members met in workshops to discuss the disease's impact related to prisons, substance abuse, women issues, and funding.

"Information is power," Indiana State Representative William Crawford told the gathering, "and we recognize that people armed with superior information generally enjoy a superior position."

State Rep. Kathryn Bowers, Tenn., said she believes there is a direct correlation between the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the prisons and the rise of HIV/AIDS in the African American community, especially as it relates to women. "It's going to be incumbent on us as legislators to know exactly what type of health care delivery system is being provided within our prisons," Bowers said. "In addition to that we are going to need to find out if there is any continuity of service." This continuity of service, Bowers said, would allow

HIV positive persons released from prison to continue to receive treatment and forestall infecting others.

The NBCSL represents approximately 600 members in 44 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Founded in 1977, the primary mission of the NBCSL is to enhance the effectiveness of its members as they consider legislation and policy issues that impact African American constituents within their respective jurisdictions. The group is working to educate its members -- African American legislators in communities across the nation -- as they take on more visible roles to increase access to HIV/AIDS prevention, care and services for their constituents.

(1),(2) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National Center for Health Statistics; and U.S. Bureau of the Census

SOURCE: National Black Caucus of State Legislators
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