AEGiS-AP: State just begins to address AIDS among women: 21% Of Kentuckians Newly Diagnosed With Disease Are Female

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

State just begins to address AIDS among women: 21% Of Kentuckians Newly Diagnosed With Disease Are Female

Associated Press - December 4, 2006

LOUISVILLE - Hundreds of women in Kentucky are living with AIDS, and women account for nearly a quarter of Kentuckians diagnosed each year with the disease.

Vicki Johnson, an AIDS coordinator for the Kentucky Department for Public Health, said some people still think AIDS is a disease of gay men.

"Well, it's not," she said.

But among women, the disease can carry such a strong stigma that they often tell others they have cancer or seek care from out-of-town doctors.

State public health officials said they are just beginning to respond to AIDS among women with initiatives such as a program designed to help black women engage in healthy sexual relationships.

The proportion of new AIDS cases among women rose from none in 1982 to a high of 24 percent in 2003, and it was 21 percent in 2004. More than 400 Kentucky women are living with AIDS, and many others are HIV-positive. Black women are hardest-hit, with an AIDS rate 19 times higher than white women.

Critics say not enough has been done in Kentucky to prevent AIDS.

"You look at San Francisco, New York," said Tina Haley, director of HIV prevention and case management services at Volunteers of America of Kentucky. "They have a lot of billboards, a lot of programs. It's very public."

The state has $1 million for HIV prevention, but plans to develop a state media campaign educating women about AIDS fell through, Johnson said.

"We can do much better, and I think we're going to be doing that in the near future," Johnson said. "Unfortunately, it's going to come down to funding."

Among Kentucky women, sexual intercourse with men is by far the most common way the virus is passed. AIDS experts said women who don't know the facts often don't take precautions, such as insisting on the use of condoms during sex.

Patty Chinn of Newport has lived with the disease for two decades. Chinn, 40, said family members often ignore her pleas to use condoms.

"It amazes me," she said. "I'm staring you in the face, and you're still going out having unprotected sex."

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