HIV/AIDS cases still at high levels in the District
By JIHANE ABOU CHABKE
Observer staff
Observer photo by MARK HECKATHORN
Participants mark World AIDS Day in Dupont Circle.
At the end of 2006, there were 8,368 reported cases of people living with AIDS in the District, a 43 percent increase from 2001. While the report attributed the increase to new infections, it also noted that more effective HIV medications have also contributed to the rise.
When talking about the global HIV/AIDS epidemic, Nelson Mandela once said: “It’s in our own hands to bring a stop to this.”
Today marks the 20th annual World AIDS Day observance, dedicated to raising awareness and pushing leaders to keep their promise and stop AIDS.
At the end of 2006, there were 8,368 reported cases of people living with AIDS in the District, a 43 percent increase from 2001. While the report attributed the increase to new infections, it also noted that more effective HIV medications have also contributed to the rise.
During a candlelight vigil that the Whitman-Walker Clinic held Friday evening in
“We want an awareness of what is going on and an awareness of the needs,” Andy Novack said. “Especially as time has passed, I think that less emphasis has been placed on [HIV] and people kind of forgot about the impact that it has.”
The 2007 District of Columbia’s HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report (in PDF) shows that the District has the highest AIDS rate nationally, with blacks recording the largest percentage of cases: 84.3 percent. The number is almost nine times higher than among the city’s Caucasians and nearly 20 times higher than its Hispanic population.
Janelle Plummer, a graduate student at American University, expressed her concern about the lack of HIV education in the District.
“The AIDS epidemic in the nation’s capital is a vital public health concern,” she said. “We need to start educating young African-Americans, both male and female, about the dangers of the disease. We have to emphasize that this disease is fatal, non-curable, and it’s killing our brothers and sisters.”
Last week, UNAIDS and the World Heath Organization released new pandemic figures in the “AIDS Epidemic Update 2007.” The report still showed high numbers of new HIV infections and deaths despite the national targets that governments set in 2006 to achieve “universal access” to HIV care, support, treatment and prevention.
The number of people worldwide living with HIV in 2007 is about 33.2 million, of which 2.5 million are newly infected, according to the report. Deaths caused by AIDS are estimated at 2.1 million.
The care that people living with HIV get from the government is not enough, Jerry Payne said at the Dupont vigil.
“It will never be enough. The attention that we brought and are bringing to the subject is more than they will get. It’s so much more than what they’re getting now.”
Chip Lewis, media relations manager at the clinic, emphasized the need to keep people aware of the gravity of the problem.
“We still need to take very serious measures to address the problem and make sure people protect themselves: wearing condoms during sex, not sharing injection drug needles and getting tested regularly to know their HIV status.”
This year’s and next year’s campaign theme for World AIDS Day is “leadership,” and it builds on the 2006 theme of “accountability.” Its goal is to encourage HIV leadership in all sectors of society and to push world leaders for an execution of the projects and promises they had made to curb the number of HIV infections and deaths by 2010.
A guide to HIV educational resources can be found here.
