Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - November 28, 2002
John McCormick, Tribune staff reporter
The disproportionate infection rate among African-Americans is one of the many troubling statistics that have prompted Rev. Jesse Jackson to campaign against the deadly disease in recent years.
In observance of the 15th annual World AIDS Day on Sunday, Jackson and Rainbow/PUSH Coalition are planning a weekend of HIV-prevention activities.
State officials also plan to observe the day by dimming the lights at the Capitol and other state government buildings in Springfield and Chicago on Sunday evening.
State officials say that in Illinois there have been more than 28,000 reported AIDS cases since 1981, and 57 percent of those people have died of the disease.
A United Nations report released this week showed that the AIDS virus now infects about 42 million people worldwide.
The Rainbow/PUSH effort will include a nationwide satellite broadcast, a one-hour movie about HIV, calls for increased testing and a visit to Cook County Jail, where Jackson will take an HIV test to encourage inmates to do the same.
"Without the test, you can't make the next step toward treatment," Jackson said. "Tests are public, but results are private."
Jackson said the prevalence of sex in jails and prisons makes them a breeding ground for the virus and creates a population that later infects others.
"They leave there sicker, slicker and return quicker," he said.
Jackson, who has taken the HIV test five to 10 times, stopped short of saying inmates should be required to take an HIV test.
"Legally you can't force it, but they should be very, very, very strongly encouraged for all the right reasons," he said. "Seven in 10 folks who have it don't know they have it."
Jackson's visit to the jail Sunday will be at least the third time he has led a testing effort there. The most recent was this summer during the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition conference.
"We must remove the fear and get to testing and behavior and treatment," Jackson said.
The screening of "Kevin's Room," a movie about HIV, and a discussion hosted by Jackson will be held from noon to 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Rainbow/PUSH auditorium, 930 E. 50th St. HIV testing will also be available there from 1 to 5 p.m.
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