The Miami Herald - Wednesday, June 16, 1999
Andrea Robinson, Herald Staff Writer

The team of experts from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will assess what has been done in each of the cities to combat the virus, then later offer suggestions on how to craft prevention and treatment strategies for black and Hispanic communities.

Miami, Philadelphia and Detroit are the first of 11 cities chosen to receive the special assistance. Teams will visit each city for 8 to 10 weeks, meeting with local officials, public health personnel and community-based organizations that work with racial and ethnic minority people living with HIV and AIDS.

An official announcement about Miami's selection is expected to be made today in Washington, D.C., by Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala and U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami.

Meek said she welcomed having federal health experts come down and work with local public health officials.

"With some of the best minds in the country helping us, we can wage a tough battle on this epidemic," Meek said. "While other areas of the country are getting healthier, our community is getting sicker."

Nationally, Miami has the third-highest rate of AIDS infections. Last year, blacks in Florida accounted for nearly half of all the AIDS cases among men and three-quarters of the women.

Since 1981 -- the start of the epidemic --the percentage of those infected in Broward have been: white non-Hispanics, 50 percent, blacks, 42 percent and Hispanics, 8 percent.

In Miami-Dade County, blacks accounted for 49 percent of AIDS cases reported since 1981, and 52 percent of HIV infections since the state began keeping track in 1997.

For whites and Hispanics the news is less grim because their overall infection rates have dropped. But the numbers still cause concern among health workers. Last year, Hispanics accounted for 33 percent of all AIDS cases, and 28 percent of HIV infections. For whites, it's 18 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

Health and Human Services designated 16 communities with large black and Hispanic populations affected by HIV/AIDS as being eligible for help. A team will visit West Palm Beach by early next year. Fort Lauderdale is one of five cities that was deemed eligible for assistance, but had not yet requested federal aid, according to a department press release.

The crisis response teams are part of an effort between the agency, the Congressional Black Caucus and other members of Congress to combat the disproportionate impact of the disease in African-American communities.

While the battle against AIDS has gone on for almost 20 years, the majority of the information campaigns have largely been targeted toward gay, white males. The formation of the crisis response teams could signal a national shift in how prevention and treatment messages are spread and implemented.

Last year, the Clinton administration committed $156 million specifically to fight AIDS in black communities nationwide. That money is paying for the crisis response teams.

Team members will come from a cross-section of federal health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. They will look at factors that have played a role in the disease's spread such as the method of transmission, areas with high infections, and types of prevention messages sent out to see what -- if anything -- should be changed in the approach taken by local health officers.

Later, the team would offer a plan on how local medical and outreach workers can better target testing, care and treatment services for residents. Miami-Dade officials would then decide whether to accept their recommendations, said Tola Thompson, Meek's spokesman.

While the designation does not come with any additional money, Thompson said, it could put Miami-Dade in a better situation in getting future funds.

Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas and chief health officer Annie Neasman contacted Meek's office seeking federal advice on how to develop an effective plan to halt the spread of AIDS, particularly in the black community.

"The team will look at how we are directing our prevention messages as well as care and treatment dollars within the minority community and see if there are ways to better utilize those resources," said Joe Ramallo, Penelas' spokesman.

"They can help us better spend the dollars that we have now." While the teams won't mean additional dollars, local community groups say they're happy for the assistance.

"We welcome anybody who comes into this area who wants to do us some good. Let them come, we will open up our arms to them," said Patricia Kelly, executive director of MOVERS, a Liberty City-based AIDS group.

"Our problems are so profound we need all the excellence we can get."

"If this would have happened five or six years ago we wouldn't have this problem."
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