"South Bank Beacon-Archives"

"I remember the STREET BATTLES, the funerals, the bigotry, the betrayals, the courage. I remember it all. The last thing we need to do to mark the 20 years is a month of self-congratulatory black-tie fundraisers for the AIDS bureaucracy. Our hearts may be filled, but there are only two emotions worth expressing at this perilous time: GRIEF qand RAGE. Grief for the millions who have died and are dying. Rage at the indifference, greed, and stupidity that permit this grotesque calamity to continue. We should cancel the COCKTAIL PARTIES and start off June in The Streets of Washington, DC -- SCREAMING BLOODY MURDER."

Paying the price of AIDS

Human, economic toll reverberates globally

(CNN) -- Twenty years ago, AIDS made its medical debut in the United States as a disease that primarily struck gay men. The politically organized gay community mobilized against it, stressing education and prevention through safe sex, eventually lowering their transmission rate. But the AIDS virus -- known for its ability to mutate rapidly within its victims -- also managed to alter the demographic profile of those it infects.

"During the past 10 years, the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States has undergone a dramatic transformation from one concentrated primarily among homosexual men to an epidemic that is now closely associated with the inner city," said David Bloom, professor of economics and demography at Harvard University's School of Public Health.

"Low levels of education, high levels of multiple sexual partnering, high rates of homosexuality/bisexuality and high rates of injecting drug use account for the relatively high rate of new infections among blacks and Hispanics in the U.S.," Bloom said.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 800,000 to 900,000 people in the United States are currently infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Each year, another 40,000 people become infected.

'It's devastating'

Although African-Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, they represent 54 percent of the new HIV infections. Hispanics, who represent about 12 percent of the population, account for 19 percent of the new infections.

"It's devastating," said Teresa Holmes, a spokeswoman for the Balm in Gilead, a New York-based organization that works with African-American churches to provide training and assistance for HIV/AIDS programs.

AIDS is the No. 1 cause of death for African-Americans aged 25-44, according to the CDC.

"One in 160 black women is infected with HIV and one in 50 black men," Holmes said. "It's not just the inner city, and it's not just the poor that are affected. You could almost lose or wipe out generations."

Thirty percent of gay black men in their 20s are infected with HIV, compared to 7 percent of white gay men, according to a recent CDC study of six large U.S. cities.

An African-American woman is 20 times more likely to contract AIDS than a white woman. African-American adolescents accounted for more than 60 percent of AIDS cases reported in 1999 among 13- to 19-year-olds.

Human and economic toll

"AIDS has a huge impact, not just in human terms but also in economic terms," Bloom said. "First, there are lots of AIDS cases. Second, because the lion's share -- 80 percent to 90 percent of all AIDS-related illnesses and mortality -- occurs among people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, which are the years when people are most productive and save for later in their lives. And finally, because the opportunistic infections that accompany AIDS are so very expensive to treat."

While the United States as a whole may be able to absorb the cost of HIV/AIDS in a relatively small percentage of its total population, some countries face a far grimmer prospect.

The Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) estimates that out of the 36.1 million people infected with HIV worldwide, 26 million of them live in Africa. One fourth of the adults in South Africa are believed to be living with HIV, the highest percentage in the world.

'None of us are insulated'

"In a global economy, none of us are insulated. The African AIDS crisis previews what potentially awaits the businesses and other economies that are more significant in the global economy like India, Brazil, China and Russia."

"The U.S. government now believes that HIV is a security threat," said Mark Feinberg, a professor at Emory University School of Medicine and an AIDS researcher since 1984.

"In sub-Sahara Africa whole generations are basically disappearing. That is going to give rise to substantial disruptions in social interactions and economic structures. Societies can only deal with a certain amount of disruption before they collapse."

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for creation of a "war chest" of $7 billion to $10 billion a year to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

Even if other countries respond generously to Annan's plea, the HIV/AIDS problem will not disappear soon, experts say.

"It's going to have a long lasting impact on the human race," Feinberg said. "AIDS is going to change the course of human evolution. There's no doubt about that. When you have a disease that affects so many people and some people have systems better able to respond to it, that's how evolution works. It is so enormous that even for someone like myself who's been involved in it for 17 years, it is impossible for me to truly conceive of the magnitude of the epidemic."

Subject: Re: [RainbowNews] Digest -AVOC "Rollin' On The River.8/29
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 1999 19:18:02 -0400
From: "Michael W. Connett" <mconnett@fuse.net>
Organization: "The Michael W. Connett-'LIVING' Trust"

How fortuitous that these two items appeared together!
One of the things that I have come to realize along my Journey is that the talents with which I was blessed (an ability to write/communicate) were given to facilitate my purpose or "calling" in this life to teach/educate. That was a real and truthful motivation for my decision to join The Christian Brothers upon my graduation from Newport Catholic High School. The real but less truthful motivation was my attempt to escape the intolerance of my family and society by finding a "Respectable" closet to reside in. That being said, here is the lesson I want to share with you:

In a nutshell it is this: that the same kind of very real TENSION (although largely unspoken) that exists between a smaller/less known organization and a larger/very well known one as cited in the article by Doug Ireland, exists between the Three major players in AIDS Services here. AVOC is the larger and more well known organization that like the HRC, operates primarily in one area/state, gets all the recognition and manages to raise the great majority of Community Based Funding. However, they have evolved into a Professional ASO under contract with the State of Ohio to administer case management, education and prevention activities - thereby trying to wear two hats at once as both a Professional ASO and a Volunteer-driven CBO. Conversely in the same geographic area yet another state, we have two existing organizations (AVNK-the CBO & NKIDHD AIDS Care Management Program-the ASO) that like the Oregon group are smaller and less well known, each wear only one hat and struggle to meet their clients needs in the shadow of AVOC who like the HRC only dispenses to them the scraps from their bountiful table. Case in point: For the last three years I have been trying to get assistance from the PAWS program for my faithful canine companion-Moses. This last Sunday, through the perseverance of my Case Manager-Vicki Simon and the defiance to AVOC's exclusionary preferences by the VOLUNTEERS that run the PAWS program, I was able to participate in the free Vet Care Event at the SCPA and get Moses caught up on the shots that he was a year overdue for. I am deeply grateful to all involved in making this event and my participation in it possible!!!

As Olympic Gold Medalist Greg Louganis says in his recent book - "For The Life Of Your Dog": "Dogs have always been important players in my life. Sometimes I think I may even owe them my life. Living with HIV, I have come to know personally and intimately the exquisite power of the human/animal bond. I don't need scientific research studies to tell me that when you share a special relationship with animals-in my case dogs-your outlook improves, you enjoy a more fulfilling life, and most significantly, you are better equipped to heal and fight off disease. There seems to be a direct link between the human/animal bond and the human immune system, and I have been a beneficiary of that link."

There is no doubt in my mind as well, that having Moses by my side the last 5 years is a major reason why I have been able to survive living with HIV. In talking to several of the PAWS volunteers, I learned that last Sundays Vet Care Day was made possible and organized solely through their efforts and the generosity of the Veterinary professionals who donated their time as well as the necessary vaccines and supplies. To my complete surprise and chagrin I learned that although the PAWS Program operates as a service under the AVOC umbrella, they receive no budget or direct financial assistance from them for their operation. Except in the case where a donation is made to AVOC specifically designated for the PAWS Program. Over the last eight years that I have been living with HIV, from the beginning in CincinNASTY and now in my native No. Ky., I have come to realize the inequities that currently exist. Although there exits this great disproportion between the amount of Community Based fundraisng received by AVOC from Northern Kentucky and the amount of programs and services then returned by AVOC to the Northern Kentucky clients, I have been ignored, muzzled or discredited when I have tried to be vocal and raise awareness about it. But AIDS is FAR FROM Being Over...Although there is no cure or vaccine in sight, people continue to be infected and then are living longer putting a strain on all the available resources. IT IS TIME for unnecessary strains on our resources like the one presented here, to be recognized and rectified!

With Best Regards & HOPE for the Future,
Michael