Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2008. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - April 4, 2008
The transition that took place in Allen's life, she told a forum, caused her to "stop walking the streets for the devil and start walking the aisles for God," becoming an active church member, going to college and being willing to share her story with others in order to convince them to get tested and get educated about the disease.
Women Empowered -- Responding to Serve Valued People (WE-RSVP) presented it's third annual health forum --March 29 at First Baptist Church of Bunche Park, 15700 NW 22nd Ave.
Florence Greer, Regional Minority AIDS coordinator for Miami-Dade Health Department, said 3,092 residents of Opa-locka and Miami Gardens are living with AIDS and 1,180 are living with HIV.
In 2007, new HIV cases in Florida totaled 1,448, and, of those, 388 were women; for the same time period, new AIDS cases totaled 811, of whom 277 were women. The most frequently reported risk factor among those cases was heterosexual sex, she said.
Greer's focus is on prevention, early intervention and testing. The Health Department offers initiatives to educate the public on HIV/AIDS prevention, stressing education, testing, involvement and treatment. For more information, log on to www.wemakethechange.com.
The forum's keynote speaker was Deborah Holmes, who specializes in internal medicine and is affiliated with Mt. Sinai Medical Center. She presented grim statistics on the disease and its impact on blacks.
In general, she said, blacks account for 50 percent of all new HIV cases but only 13 percent of the nation's population, compared to Hispanics, who are 14 percent of the population and account for 18 percent of new cases, and whites, who make up 68 percent of the population and 30 percent of new cases.
Speaking specifically to the youth, Holmes said one in 14 girls overall has a sexually transmitted disease; among black girls, it is one in 12. Of the 40,000 new HIV cases per year nationally, 10,000 of them are teenagers. Among men who have sex with other men, the HIV rate among blacks is twice that of whites.
Juan Carlos Riacos of Abbott Laboratories told the forum attendees about the "I Stand With Magic" -- The Campaign to End Black HIV /AIDS, a partnership between the Magic Johnson Foundation and Abbott Laboratories. Membership is open to people with or without HIV/AIDS who are at least 18 years old. For more information, log on to www.istandwithmagic.com.
Riacos said AIDS is the leading cause of death among blacks aged 24-44. Also, he said, black men are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS at a rate five times more that for other men; for black women, the rate is 12 times more.
Alesia Miller, senior project specialist with Care Resource and a community activist, also sat on a panel of speakers and gave her testimonial of survival and living with HIV. Through Care Resource, she heads a faith-based program based on collaborative outreach efforts between Care Resource and the African American community.
The initiative includes providing HIV counseling, testing and referral services, as well as training and support for the implementation of faith-based programs in the church.
Miller's message is one of education and spiritual obedience to God.
The forum also featured performances by Word of Truth Ministries, the Flag Ministry, the Mime Ministry of Expressions and the Holy Family Dance Group of the Episcopal Church of the Holy Family.
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