Miami Herald - April 1, 2003
Andrea Robinson, arobinson@herald.com

As the AIDS virus spreads to diverse populations, the safe-sex public awareness and education campaigns that were used 20 years ago no longer work, said Mervyn Silverman, chairman of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, which is holding its national conference in Miami through Wednesday.

THE NUMBERS

'If you look at the numbers, the answer is 'No, they aren't effective.' But the numbers might be worse if you didn't have some of the education programs," Silverman said. "But if you had ideal programs, the numbers would be lower."

The advertisements of the '80s were designed to reach a primarily white, gay male audience. Silverman said the messages have to be more targeted.

"We have to tailor the message to the group, whether it's street kids or people over 50. We have to crawl into the heads of people to find out how we can get the message out, get it heard and internalized," he said.

That task would fall upon healthcare providers, governments and community-based agencies that deal with HIV/AIDS prevention.

Silverman said both the messages and outreach strategies must be specific to race, gender, sexual orientation, age and ethnicity.

This message comes as more attention is drawn to the high number of HIV/AIDS cases in Florida.

Since the late 1990s, Florida has geared its message to blacks and Hispanics, but that tactic needs to expand nationwide, Silverman said.

Organizers chose Miami as a host site because South Florida has one of the highest AIDS rates in the country.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of newly diagnosed AIDS cases increased nationwide in 2001 -- the first increase in nine years. This mirrors the increase reported among Hispanics for the same period. But for blacks, the number of new AIDS cases has been increasing since 1999.

Last year, Florida had 12 percent of the newly reported cases in the nation and ranked second in the number of female and pediatric AIDS cases.

Tom Liberti, director of the Florida Bureau of HIV/AIDS, noted that silence, complacency and political inaction have blunted the urgency about the disease.

"More must be done around the globe. We have no time to waste," Liberti said.

The conference brings together more than 2,000 physicians, nurses, mental health specialists and AIDS care advocates from across the United States and the Caribbean.

TACKLING SHAME

During workshops, participants have discussed topics like how religious faiths address HIV, eradicating shame and secrecy in small communities, and making workshops memorable and motivational.

Conference participants got a glimpse of a $120 million multimedia campaign by media giant Viacom, which is launching a series of public service announcements on television and billboards that target groups hardest hit by the virus as well as the general population. Television shows produced by Viacom companies, including Becker, The District and Girlfriends, have incorporated HIV/AIDS themes in upcoming episodes.

ENCOURAGING WORDS

As experts started their discussions, local luminaries in the AIDS prevention arena stopped by with words of encouragement.

"We are not fighting the disease -- we're fighting ignorance," said state Sen. Frederica Wilson, a Miami Democrat who last year successfully sponsored legislation for the testing of inmates prior to their release from state prisons.

Noting the numbers of infections in South Florida, popular television host Cristina Saralegui applauded the Viacom campaign and the work of community organizations in reaching Hispanics.

"Hispanic parents do not speak to their children about sex," Saralegui said. "The first thing the parent does is go into denial."

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