Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - November 14, 2003
Christopher Steiner, Tribune staff reporter
Programs to battle HIV rates in black areas need to be tailored for their populations, said Dr. Eric Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, appearing at a joint hearing of the Illinois House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
"What works in East St. Louis might not work on the South or West Sides of Chicago," he testified at a hearing called by lawmakers demanding more accountability from programs charged with fighting HIV infection rates within black and minority communities.
He blamed initiatives that only try to "salvage people" who already have HIV instead of programs that also work to prevent people from contracting the virus.
In Chicago, blacks are diagnosed with HIV at an average annual rate of 60 per 100,000, compared with rates of 20 per 100,000 for whites and 21 per 100,000 for Hispanics, according to Chicago Department of Public Health.
According to state health officials, the dissimilar rate for blacks can be attributed to two things: the effectiveness of preventive HIV campaigns within the white gay community and the lack of similar preventive vigilance in black areas.
"Black people are not stupid," said Rep. Monique Davis (D-Chicago), clearly exasperated with the explanations being offered. "They're not having any more sex than anybody else."
Betty Smith, executive director of the South Side Help Center, said poor budget management in Springfield means there is little or no state money available to her.
In the last 20 years, the majority of money spent in the Chicago area has gone toward treating gay white men, she said. She runs her center on a budget of $3.2 million but would need an additional $3.5 million to send people out and reach more minorities. Her center is funded by federal and city sources, but nothing from the state, she said.
Strategies to deal with HIV in black neighborhoods might be flawed, but most programs have not even been tried, said Robin Miller, a professor of community and prevention research in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We're in a pretty sorry state in that we haven't even tested or imported these programs in these communities," she said.
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