Unity sought in fighting AIDS among blacks

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

The Rev. Robert E. Fowler, pastor of the Victory Missionary Baptist Church in Las Vegas, is well aware of the rising rate of HIV infection among the black community.

In his congregation of 4,000 families, he said, "It seems nowadays like everyone of us either knows someone with HIV or is related to someone with HIV."

Blacks comprise 9 percent of Clark County's population yet account for 23 percent of the AIDS cases and 26 percent of the HIV infections in the county, health district officials say.

The disproportionately high infection rates among blacks locally mirrors a nationwide trend, health officials said. AIDS is the leading cause of death in black men and women 25 to 44, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The church and Clark County health officials are joining forces to fight the trend.

"We need to do more in educating everyone to the risks," said Inez Staten, an HIV counselor for the health district. "Getting more people in for testing is a big part of dealing with the problem."

The health district will offer free oral HIV tests at locations throughout Clark County on Feb. 7, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.

Churches, which have traditionally served as the hub of both spiritual and community life in predominantly black neighborhoods, can play an important role as well, Fowler said.

"The remedy is not just an exclusive response of teaching morality and ethics," Fowler said. "There needs to be a practical response, as well."

A response such as encouraging abstinence, the practice of safe sex and receiving regular HIV tests, Fowler said.

"If the people around you aren't applying moral and ethical values to their daily lives, there has to be a means of protecting one's self," said Fowler, who added he hoped other churches would join the health district's outreach efforts.

As of December, 3,665 county residents were known to have AIDS, said Cherie Filler-Maietta of the county's HIV surveillance program. Of those, 827 are black.

And of the more than 2,500 county residents known to be infected with HIV, 652 are black.

Why blacks are infected at a higher rate isn't known, although community leaders, such as Irene Battle of the women's group Sista to Sista, say inadequate education about the risks of intravenous drug use and unprotected sex play a significant role. Sista to Sista was founded in 1998 to help educate women of color about HIV.

Minorities often have less access to health care than whites, which makes it less likely they'll be tested for HIV as part of a routine physical exam, said Battle, assistant director of Sista to Sista.

In Nevada HIV infections increased 43 percent between 1999 and 2000, the first jump since 1996, according to a state Health Division report released in November.

Black men in Nevada were infected at a rate of 74 cases per 100,000 people, compared with a rate of 23 white men per 100,000 people. Black women were infected at a rate of 29 per 100,000 people, compared to fewer than 3 white women per 100,000 people, the state report showed.

A 28-year-old black woman living in Las Vegas who asked not to be identified at one time believed only men could be infected with HIV.

Then she tested positive.

"I thought it was a gay disease, or you got it from a blood transfusion," she said. "Back in 1991 my high school was one of the first in New York City to distribute condoms, and my teachers talked about safe sex. But it never crossed my mind that I could get HIV."

She found community support from Victory Missionary and Sista to Sista.

"It helps that I can talk to people about it and they treat me like a regular person," the woman said. "It was a secret for so long. I don't feel like I'm living a double life anymore."com