PRNewswire - November 15, 2006

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- At yesterday's weekly Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, advocates from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), US' largest HIV/AIDS healthcare, prevention and education provider, criticized the County's Department of Public Health for its slow and ill-conceived response following an alarming county report that revealed that syphilis incidence was up 40% in Los Angeles County in 2005. The report -- released a full six months ago -- showed that syphilis, a highly transmissible, yet readily curable sexually transmitted disease, continued to wreak havoc in Los Angeles via an ongoing outbreak among men who have sex with men (MSM), while increasingly affecting female populations and increasing in African American and Hispanic populations.

The AHF advocates expressed disappointment with the six-month response-time to an emerging public health crisis and criticized the plan that the County presented, which AHF believes will not adequately address the outbreak. The County's plan includes a social-marketing for STD prevention, convening community advisory boards (CAB), as well as the hiring of five to ten additional staff members who may need up to a year of training each. In response to AHF's concerns, Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky called for a verbal report on the issue from Dr. Jonathan Fielding, Director of Public Health, at next week's Board of Supervisors meeting.

In his testimony, Whitney Engeran III with AHF's Prevention and Public Affairs Departments noted that six months ago, when the report was first released, the County pledged an immediate response to combat the outbreak, but now presents an ineffective plan that includes increased bureaucracy, additional staff and a social marketing campaign, when what is needed is participation from community groups already engaged in STD screening and prevention: "The community is better able to respond to the urgent needs of this epidemic. There are already existing community providers with the capacity, knowledge and experience to quickly bring services to the population. We urge the Department of Public Health to re-think its ill-conceived plan and to waste no time in re-engaging with the community on this important public health issue."

"Sadly, we are at a point where syphilis is now endemic in L.A. County," said Michael Weinstein, AHF's President. "We are disappointed by the bureaucratic inertia and lack of transparency that has characterized this process and call on the County to take immediate action by partnering with existing and effective community groups to focus on syphilis screening -- the single most important component of a campaign to eradicate the disease in Los Angeles."

According to an LA County Department of Health Services STD Surveillance Report released in June, Los Angeles County saw a 40% increase in reported cases in 2005 -- 1,217 early syphilis cases reported to County health officials in 2005, up from 865 cases in 2004. While the majority of these infections remain in the MSM population (809 of the 1,217 cases), there was also a dramatic 56% increase in early syphilis cases among females (89 cases in 2004 up to 139 in 2005), with African-American and Hispanic females each representing 42% of these new female cases.

While the syphilis rate among the MSM population remained high (66.4% of the total number of cases last year), many of these new cases have been identified in individuals who also have HIV, a treatable -- but NOT curable sexually transmitted disease. Of 987 cases of syphilis reported in 2005 for whom HIV status was known, 60% of those individuals were also HIV positive.

SOURCE AIDS Healthcare Foundation

061115
PR061115

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2006. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2006. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .