Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - September 28, 2007
Dan Genz, dgenz@dcexaminer.com
Most Hispanics with HIV are diagnosed long after they contract the disease, making treatment more difficult and increasing the spread of the disease, public health advocates said.
"When people have no idea, we have a huge problem," said Catalina Sol, HIV/AIDS director of La Clinica Del Pueblo, a Washington health organization. "We want them to find out as soon as possible, but for some, it takes years for the first test."
New AIDS tests are occurring at rate nearly four times higher among Hispanics than whites nationwide. And in 2005, 76 percent of Hispanic AIDS patients developed the full-blown disease within one year of their first positive HIV test.
Hispanics made up about 18 percent of positive tests in 2005, below the 31 percent for white patients and 49 percent for black patients.
Combating the epidemic among Hispanics will take more education about the disease and better testing measures nationwide, especially in communities where the disease appears to be spreading.
More than a quarter of the 120 people and groups who signed the national call to action come from D.C., Virginia and Maryland.
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