Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune - June 27, 2006
Josh Noel, jbnoel@tribune.com, Tribune staff reporter
Blacks are still disproportionately affected. And not enough people are being tested--which in part accounts for the lower number of reported cases, officials said.
"We should be cautious about considering [the figures released Monday] a victory," said David Ernesto Munar, associate director of the non-profit AIDS Foundation of Chicago.
A day before National HIV Testing Day, the Public Health Department announced there were 1,366 new cases of AIDS reported in 2005, down from 1,410 in 2004. The number of patients infected with HIV--the virus that causes AIDS--rose to 2,540 from 2,523.
Combined, there were 3,906 AIDS and HIV cases in 2005, compared with 3,933 cases in 2004.
Munar said he would welcome significant increases in the figure, because it would mean more people are getting tested--and, in theory, treated.
Based on national figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he estimated that 10,000 people who are HIV-positive or have developed AIDS in Illinois have not been diagnosed.
To combat the problem, the state launched Brothers and Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS in September, a project that aims to increase testing and awareness in black communities. Among the events was a rap concert featuring local performer Twista, where officials said people lined up to get tested.
"In this case, a higher number would be--no pun intended--a positive thing," said Rick Bejlovec, executive director of Test Positive Aware Network.
Although African-Americans made up about 15 percent of the state population, they accounted for about half of all the AIDS and HIV cases reported in Illinois in 2004 and 2005, statistics show.
"We're still seeing significant numbers of HIV and AIDS cases in populations of color," Munar said. "It's going to take decades of work to reverse that trend. We can't be lulled into thinking we've turned the corner because we haven't."
Eric Whitaker, director of the state Public Health Department, said he is most concerned about younger people acquiring the disease. Seventy-seven percent of the people with HIV or AIDS in 2005 were between the ages of 18 and 44, he said.
"African-American youth, that would be, to me, the cause of most urgency, particularly when you have folks of child-bearing age," he said.
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