Women Urged Not to Ignore AIDS Threat

Although you wouldn’t guess it by looking at her, 25-year-old Jennifer Le is the human face of HIV, the virus that leads to AIDS.

But as part of the “Women Need to Know” series of public service announcements unveiled Monday at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Costa Mesa resident dispels nearly every fallacy about who exactly is infected with the virus: She is straight, she has a 3-year-old son and has never shot drugs. And she’s Vietnamese.

In her 30-second public service announcement with actress Elizabeth Sung of “The Joy Luck Club,” Le sees herself as a human reminder that AIDS is an equal opportunity killer. At 18, Le thought that only gay men and intravenous drug users contracted HIV. “I wish I knew then what I know now,” she said.

At the unveiling of the spots, Sung outlined her reasons for appearing in the multilingual, multiethnic announcements. “I lost a brother to AIDS 10 years ago,” she said. “And I’m a woman, and a woman of color.”

The ads, which will debut on at least four Southland TV channels this week, are a response to growing infection rates among women, including members of minorities. The public service announcements were commissioned by the county Department of Health Services AIDS Programs and produced by marketing company Healthier Solutions and Los Angeles-based PROTOTYPES, a health and social service provider.

Another participant in one of the spots, Cookie Johnson, wife of the HIV-infected basketball great Magic Johnson, explained her involvement in the project. “I think it’s very important for the public to know that women of color are the leading group in terms of contracting” HIV and AIDS, she said.

As for Le, she has come to terms with her infection, which she contracted through unprotected sex. Through classroom talks, she tells high school and college students that they can become infected if they don’t abstain from sex or use latex condoms. With her own family, Le is breaking cultural barriers dictating that Asians don’t talk about their feelings or have premarital sex.

Her hand on the leg of her napping son, she said, “Christopher won’t have any of those barriers. I plan to be very honest with him when he’s able to comprehend” sexuality and the disease.

The announcements--to be aired in English, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog and Hindi--stress the importance of disease prevention and include an 800 number for information and referrals.