Changing the face of HIV/AIDS

***Note: Today, Thursday, Feb 7th, is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day and this oped discusses that.

Changing the face of HIV/AIDS

By Sean Dugar, President of the California National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Youth & College Division

There is an amazing movement happening among my generation right now. A movement inspired by a desire for change and a need to be a part of that change. Using this momentum I know that my generation can make a difference in altering the path of one very important issue – HIV/AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic is fast becoming an alarming issue for my generation and if we don’t stand up together, young and old, to fight it we will all face the consequences. On Feb. 7th 2008 we celebrate National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. There is no better time to remind every one, especially those in the Black community that are so disproportionately affected by the disease, that changing the HIV/AIDS epidemic starts with your self. It starts by getting tested so that you know your status.

Knowledge of one’s status has become the most important tool we can use to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic. There are 40,000 men and women in California unaware that they are infected with the HIV virus that leads to AIDS. These unknowing victims reflect California’s wide-spread diversity.

Based on national statistics, though, we know that half of them are African-Americans. It would be self-defeating and dangerous to deny that the Black community accounts for more HIV/AIDS deaths than any other racial or ethnic group. Half of the new cases of HIV/AIDS infections each year are among African-Americans, even though we are only 13 percent of the population.

And one of the scariest statistics of all, HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25-34 years. A preventable and treatable disease should not be causing that many deaths.

When it comes to an undiscovered HIV infection, ignorance is the opposite of bliss. The sooner the infection is discovered the sooner the patient can receive treatment that can delay the onset of AIDS and prolong a patient’s life by as much as 30 years.

Equally important, early detection of HIV greatly reduces the chances of passing the disease on to others. People with undiscovered HIV infections can unknowingly infect others long before they feel any symptoms of the virus or develop AIDS. Researchers report that new HIV cases could be reduced by 30 percent a year if everyone with HIV was aware that they had this virus and took steps to avoid passing it on to others.

More and better HIV screening is crucial to winning the war on AIDS. That message will be brought home today, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, but must be continued each and every day after. There’s still a lingering embarrassment among some of us in the Black community when it comes to talking about AIDS, even after decades of living with this epidemic. This has to change; we have to not only talk about HIV/AIDS but also to seek HIV testing and treatment. And us as youth can make a difference by standing together on this issue and creating a new dialogue about the importance of HIV testing.

Our chances of doing that have improved tremendously since we observed this day last year. The state legislature has passed a long-needed law that makes it easier for doctors, clinics and hospitals to make HIV/AIDS screening part of routine health care.

Doctors are now free to screen patients for HIV routinely without the patient's specific consent. It’s still voluntary in the sense that a patient can choose to opt out of HIV screening, but unless the patient opts out the HIV screening becomes automatic. That new law should make a substantial difference in detecting HIV early.

My generation can have a profound affect in slowing the HIV/AIDS epidemic but only if we realize change starts with us. By knowing our status we can make changes in our lives to keep our selves negative or to make sure we don’t infect others. And by keeping ourselves healthy, and those around us healthy, we can focus on creating even more lasting change throughout the world.