Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - December 6, 2006
Darran Simon, dsimon@MiamiHerald.com
The plan -- which the Broward County Health Department evaluates every three years -- paints a fresh picture of HIV/AIDS in Broward, including new data on infection rates, case records of more than 16,000 people with HIV/AIDS and university research.
PARTNERSHIP
The partnership is made of the Broward County Health Department and several community groups.
Public health professionals characterize the plan as a blueprint for groups that provide HIV prevention services to the community.
The plan also is a primary tool to help organizations decide how to spend the more than $3 million in mostly state funds set aside for the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"The plan represents nearly two years of research and community dialogue designed to address Broward's growing and HIV epidemic," said George Castrataro, the assistant director of the Health Department's HIV/AIDS program office, who authored the plan.
Community groups met Tuesday at the Anne Kolb Nature Center in Hollywood to talk about some of their successes and challenges.
NEW CASES
Since the discovery of HIV -- the virus which causes AIDS -- 25 years ago, more than 22,000 people have contracted the virus in Broward County. Today, the county leads the nation in new AIDS cases with 58.4 per 100,000 people, according to the plan.
There has been some success: the rate of new HIV cases in blacks has steadily decreased over the last five years, but blacks are still disproportionately infected with HIV/AIDS.
Figures show that:
* 1 in 58 black males have HIV/AIDS compared with 1 in 310 white men.
* 1 in 83 black females have HIV/AIDS compared with 1 in 1,625 white females.
* From 1999 to 2005, newly diagnosed cases of HIV infection among white adult males increased slightly more than 120 percent.
* Black women represent nearly 82 percent or 3,171 cases of people living with HIV/AIDS in Broward.
"We have done an amazing job closing the gap, but it's not enough. Let's keep on this path and not let up," said Lisa Agate, the county's HIV/AIDS program director.
The public has until 5 p.m on Dec. 26 to provide recommendations or comments. Call the Broward County Health Department at 954-467-4779 to get a copy of the plan.
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