Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - February 23, 2006
Jacob Goldstein, jgoldstein@MiamiHerald.com
But HIV cases increased in Broward -- a sign that HIV/AIDS continues to spread in South Florida, which has been hit hard by the virus.
"We're encouraged that there is a decline, but this is not cause for celebration," said Evelyn Ullah, director of Miami-Dade county's HIV/AIDS program. "We still have a lot to do . . . to stem the tide of HIV/AIDS in our community."
Data on the number of people with AIDS and HIV are notoriously difficult to decipher, because reporting requirements and testing practices have changed over time, causing numbers to rise and fall.
Between 1998 and 2003, new HIV/AIDS generally trended downward in Miami-Dade, and largely remained flat in Broward and Monroe counties.
However, in 2004, the number of new cases jumped by 30 percent, which state officials attributed to increased testing and a requirement that providers receiving federal AIDS funding submit more detailed data.
The 2004 figures grabbed headlines because Broward and Miami-Dade counties finished first and second in the nation for the rate of new AIDS cases.
Between 2004 and 2005, the number of new AIDS cases in Miami-Dade fell by 9 percent, from 1,316 to 1,209; new cases of HIV fell from 1,607 to 1,382. In Broward, new AIDS cases fell by 14 percent, from 953 to 826, while new HIV cases rose from 973 to 1,019.
Those declines were consistent with statewide figures, which showed that new AIDS cases fell by 12 percent, from 5,517 to 4,869.
New HIV cases fell from 6,110 to 5,621.
The number of new HIV cases climbed in Monroe County, from 35 in 2004 to 37 in 2005, while new AIDS cases fell from 34 to 30.
Jolene Mullins, who works on early intervention strategies for Broward County's AIDS program office, said apathy has become one of the major problems in fighting HIV/AIDS.
"We've got a community that's very complacent about HIV infection," she said. "It's not in our face anymore . . . We don't see people walking around with such horrific effects of HIV infections."
Yet the declines in Miami Dade do suggest improvement, said Bill McKeon, who runs the South Florida AIDS Network at Jackson Health System.
"Some of the prevention messages are getting across to people," he said. But, he added, "even if the numbers have dropped, the issue is very real . . . We continue to see a lot of patients."
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