Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2005. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Miami Herald - August 13, 2005
Darran Simon, dsimon@herald.com
The number of new HIV infections among blacks in Broward is tapering off significantly.
In 2003, 542 blacks were diagnosed with HIV. The number dipped to 450 in 2004, according to recent figures from the Broward County Health Department. There were no notable changes among whites and Hispanics, county health department figures show.
"We're closing the gap, and we're seeing significant reductions in disparities amongblacks and whites in HIV infections," said George Castrataro, assistant director of the county's health department's HIV/AIDS program office.
The county health department will present the recent figures at a community forum Tuesday. REACH 2010, a grass-roots coalition trying to reduce HIV disparities in Broward minorities, is hosting the event. It is REACH's second forum this year. REACH 2010, one of several groups in Broward that address HIV/AIDS, is part of a national effort by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to reduce health disparities like AIDS, cardiovascular disease among minorities by 201O.
Health educators will also discuss education and prevention methods in in minority communities at Tuesday's forum. REACH 2010's research showed that 12 of 53 zip codes in Broward accounted for about 73 percent the reported AIDS cases among the county's black and Hispanic population from 1994 through 1999. The figures haven't changed drastically, according to REACH 2010.
The decrease in new HIV infections among black men and women in Broward mirrors statewide figures released earlier this summer. New HIV diagnosis dropped 24 percent among black men and 36 percent among black women since 1999, the state health department said. Officials said a new rapid HIV test and more testing programs have encouraged people to learn their HIV status and seek treatment.
But blacks, who make up 14 percent of state's population, still account for 51 percent of the state's new HIV cases, according to the state health department.
"While we have seen this gap closed, there still remains a large population of infected blacks, who without intervention, could potentially transmit the virus to others," Castrataro said.
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