Miami Herald - March 29, 2002
Andrea Robinson, arobinson@herald.com

The Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach metropolitan areas also placed in the top five of U.S. cities with the highest rates of AIDS per 100,000 people - in third and fourth place respectively.

"This is a serious problem we're having now. Everyone who deals with HIV/AIDS in our community knows this," said Dr. Michael Kolber, director of adult HIV services for the University of Miami School of Medicine.

A recent report by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta shows the Miami area has the nation's highest AIDS rate - about 60 per 100,000 people as of last June.

Nationally, overall rates of new AIDS cases have decreased. That was the trend in the Fort Lauderdale area, where the rate dropped from about 57 per 100,000 to about 48, and the West Palm Beach area, where it decreased from 50 to 44.

However, Miami's rate increased last year - from about 58 to about 60 - reversing five consecutive years of declines.

Rounding out the top five in the report released in late February are New York, second; and Baltimore, Md., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, tied for fifth.

Tom Liberti, chief of the HIV/AIDS bureau for the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee, said one reason the South Florida rates are so high is that aggressive outreach and testing of more than 500,000 Floridians over the last two years identified more people who previously had not been tested for AIDS and HIV, the virus that causes the disease.

Among the places health officials and community groups visited for tests were jails, substance-abuse facilities, clinics, pharmacies, parks, mobile vans, prisons, detention centers and maternity clinics.

"Any place where we thought there was a good facility to offer a test, we worked to get it done," Liberti said.

Evelyn Ullah, director of Miami-Dade's HIV/AIDS office, said that as outreach efforts continue, the number of cases will increase.

But she and other experts said the better reporting is not the sole cause of the increased rate in Miami. "We still have individuals practicing unsafe sex behaviors," she said.

Dr. Margaret Fischl of the University of Miami, a leading researcher in HIV/AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic, said Miami tends to be a barometer of what will happen in the rest of the country. The figures, she said, are cause for concern.

"It tells me that people are still doing or practicing sexual behaviors or drug and substance abuse that put them at risk," Fischl said. "Miami's epidemic continues to occur, and we have no indication that it's slowing down in this area. None."

She added that people still tend not to access testing for early detection. When a person finally is tested, the diagnosis is more likely to be AIDS, not HIV.

LESS MONEY

The increased rate comes as local AIDS agencies find themselves with less money to spend.

Already this year, state legislators have cut $5 million from the Medicaid Project AIDS Care Waiver program. Another $5 million may be cut later this year.

So far, the program has eliminated funding for about a dozen services, including physical and respirator therapy, substance-abuse treatment and home-care services. Funding for other services was reduced.

Manuel Laureano-Vega, executive director of the League Against AIDS, said he has had to lay off three workers - half of his case management staff. Remaining employees saw their caseloads rise by 25 clients each, and everyone took a 16 percent payroll cut.

How are they getting by doing more with less?

"Everyone's asking themselves that question," he said.

TALLAHASSEE TRIP

Earlier this month, he and other AIDS advocates and patients went to Tallahassee in an effort to get the funding restored. He's hopeful that it will happen during next week's special legislative session.

David Trussell, spokesman for People With AIDS Coalition in Miami, said the organization was already feeling the pinch from higher caseloads. PWAC doesn't receive state or federal funding and relies solely on private donations. He said those donations have dried up since the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

SERVICES CUT

He said the agency will have to cut transportation and clothing-assistance services to its 1,700 clients.

"With the cuts [at other agencies], people are coming to us. We get people who other agencies can't help, but we need cash to survive."

One of PWAC's clients, Bobby Hamilton of Miami, said the organization's demise would be unfortunate.

"People living with HIV and AIDS are able to function and have normal lives. They can work," he said. "This is going to hurt a lot of people."

IN RESPONSE: HIV/AIDS patients need services

Donald J. Wysocki, Special to the Herald - April 17, 2002

The March 29 article AIDS rate in Miami is highest in nation and subsequent editorial should sound a clarion call to local officials, churches, corporate heads and community leaders.

The time for public forums, conferences and studies is over. The most urgent need now is for a concerted community-wide effort to combat this dreadful disease through education, treatment and humanitarian assistance to those living with the virus.

A new generation has grown into adolescence and adulthood since the AIDS pandemic appeared in the 1980s. Many of these young people are in high-risk categories; they must be reached through an intensive educational outreach. They must know the consequences of risky sexual behavior, too often accompanied by drinking and drug abuse. The overriding messages are that no one has been cured of AIDS, and no one is immune to the HIV virus.

We agree that Florida must address the AIDS threat. A positive step would be for the Legislature to restore $10 million in budget cuts to AIDS-related services. We also urge the Miami-Dade County HIV/AIDS Partnership, entrusted by the County Commission to administer federal funds via the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act, to prioritize funding to areas of greatest need.

After 14 years of service to the AIDS community, our organization does not have the funds to continue to provide free distribution of emergency food, clothing, household items and furniture or direct financial assistance to the indigent people with HIV/AIDS. We may suspend these services at the end of the month. More than 1,200 clients will be affected, with no other comparable resource available to them.

The coalition is making every effort, through an intensive campaign, to raise $150,000 to continue its services through the end of the year. Our annual budget is estimated to be $350,000 -- 50 percent of our income comes from our fund-raising efforts. We rely on corporate grants and individual donations for the balance.

For more information about the coalition, call 305-573-6010 or visit www.pwacdade.org.

Donald J. Wysocki, Board President,

The People With Aids Coalition of Dade County, Inc. (PWAC) Complex is located at 50 NW 21st Street, Miami, FL 33127. The Complex houses the PWAC offices, meeting rooms, client disbursement center, a "Wellness Library" and a Thrift Boutique Shop. Phone number (305) 573-6010/FAX (305) 576-4470/e-mail: pwacdade@aol.com/website: www.pwacdade.org.
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