Rise of AIDS in Minorities Is Target of Coalition

Black and Latino leaders announced Wednesday an “all-out effort” to address the disproportionate rise of AIDS among minority groups, responding in part to what some said was a public failure so far to target education and prevention efforts to those communities.

The drive, led by a newly formed coalition of minority community leaders, is intended to develop “culturally sensitive” AIDS education programs tailored to the needs and characteristics of black, Latino, Asian and American Indian groups in San Diego County.

The programs are to include conferences and workshops led by specialists from the minority community, counseling through community medical clinics and novel efforts to reach high-risk groups such as prostitutes and intravenous drug users.

Health Department Push

Also on Wednesday, Dr. J. William Cox, director of the county’s Department of Health Services, said he would support the idea of distributing condoms and bleach for cleaning hypodermic needles if political, religious and community leaders come to support the idea.

“I intend to push hard that, while you may not condone an activity, you cannot deny it exists,” said Cox, who took part in the press conference Wednesday announcing the communitywide effort.

As of Aug. 31, there have been 60 reported cases of AIDS among Latinos in San Diego County and 43 cases among blacks--figures that represent respectively 10.4% and 7% of all AIDS cases reported since 1981, county figures show.

Those percentages are significantly lower than nationwide, where 38% of all reported cases of AIDS involve blacks and Latinos, Cox said. But he said the rate at which San Diego’s minorities are contracting AIDS is increasing dramatically.

He said the apparent lag in the spread of AIDS among minority groups in San Diego is reason for “some hope,” in that it may be possible, through a concerted effort, to educate those groups about the disease before it progresses much further.

AIDS, which is fatal and for which there is no known cure, is transmitted through blood and other bodily fluids. Among other ways, it is passed through sexual contact and through the sharing of intravenous needles.

‘All-Out Effort’

At the press conference Wednesday, Assemblyman Pete Chacon (D-San Diego) said the new coalition, called People of Color AIDS Survival Effort (POCASE), will be working with “all levels of government in an all-out effort, a war against AIDS.”

“The first stereotype that needs to be eliminated is that AIDS is a gay disease,” Chacon said.

He said the coalition’s first program will be an AIDS prevention conference Oct. 24 at which “the idea is to have people of color see their own representatives talking to them.”

Cox said he intends to meet with minority community groups, taking with him respected physicians from those communities. He said he is asking radio and television stations, here and in Tijuana, to carry AIDS education messages in appropriate languages.

Robert Henderson, administrator of the Comprehensive Health Center in Southeast San Diego, said medical clinics like his intend to employ bilingual counselors and adapt educational tools to the culture of minority communities.

For example, Henderson said AIDS educators might stress the affect of AIDS on families, “since the family structure is so important in our culture.” He said counselors could stress to prospective mothers the risks of passing AIDS on to their children.

Role of Drugs

He said it is also important to acknowledge the role of drugs in the community--in some cases, as a sign of status and a means of access to such things as cars. He noted that sharing needles can have symbolic value to drug users, and that must be taken into account.

“You don’t necessarily go out and say, ‘Don’t use drugs. Period,’ if drugs are such a part of the culture,” said Henderson. In the case of intravenous drug users, counselors might stress the importance of cleaning needles before sharing, he said.

Nicole Ramirez Murray, a member of the coalition and an activist within the gay community, said the coalition was being formed in part because “we find the effective San Diego leadership on this issue sorely lacking.”

Similarly, Chacon remarked that when he first toured the San Diego AIDS Project, the largest support group for people with AIDS in the county, he found no minority representation on the staff.

“I felt that this project, which is partially funded by state monies, certainly is not going to be successful in reaching out to the minority communities,” said Chacon. He acknowledged, however, that the project subsequently hired minority staffers.

The coalition is being funded initially through a $50,000 grant to the Comprehensive Health Center from the state’s Office of AIDS, Henderson said. Among its activities, he said the coalition intends to apply for additional grant money.