Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 14, 1998
Barbara Lee, Doretha Williams-Flornoy, Gloria Lockett, lvan Quamina
The AIDS case rate for African Americans in Alameda County is five times that of whites and Latinos. African Americans account for 18 percent of the county's 1.3 million residents, but represent 41 percent of AIDS cases. African American women account for 542 (62 percent) of all women diagnosed with AIDS.
At the request of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of more than 40 HIV-service providers, public health officials and policymakers in Alameda County met last summer to discuss the spread of HIV and to ask Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala to declare a national HIV emergency in the black community.
From that gathering emerged a report, "AIDS in the African American Community: A State of Emergency" that asks Alameda County to declare that the spread of HIV in the black community here constitutes a public health emergency.
The report uses Alameda County Office of Public Health statistics to document the spread of HIV in the black community. It also offers the county a series of recommendations for curbing its spread. Most importantly, it offers four strategies to strengthen Alameda County's current efforts to combat the disease:
1) Increase awareness of the spread of the disease in the African American and larger community;
2) Increase funding and direct existing services toward prevention, care and treatment;
3) Create and fund a continuum of care for HIV/AIDS patients and lift barriers to service and care;
4) Set up and implement a local public-policy agenda that addresses the problem and serves as a national model for HIV-intervention.
The report has been submitted to the county officials, who will determine whether it is necessary to declare a public health emergency. The authors of this report, and the members of the task force that commissioned it, hope Alameda County will seriously consider its recommendations. Above all, we urge the county to acknowledge that the spread of HIV in the black community constitutes a public health emergency.
981014
SC981005
Copyright © 1998 - San Francisco Chronicle Press. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the San Francisco Chronicle, Permissions Desk, 901 Mission Street, San Franciso, CA 94103. You may also send a fax to (415) 495-3843, or an email message to chronperm@sfgate.com. http://www.sfgate.com.
AEGiS is a 501(c)3, not-for-profit, tax-exempt, educational corporation. AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted funding from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Elton John AIDS Foundation, the National Library of Medicine, Pacific Life Foundation and donations from users like you.
Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1998. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.
Copyright ©1980, 1998. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .