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The West Tennessee Consortium and
Community Planning Group hopes to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS and stop “an
epidemic that does not discriminate.” Members spoke at a roundtable discussion
held at the Jackson-Madison County Health Department on September 24. The theme
of the discussion was “Getting to Zero in Our Neighborhoods. HIV/AIDS Is Here;
What Can We Do?”
Fisher Smith from the Lane College
Health Ambassadors stated that the health clinic provides services for people
in the community with HIV/AIDS, but more people are needed to help with
outreach. According to Shelia Ward, one of the major difficulties is combating
the stigma people associate with HIV/AIDS. The health department sent at least
100 invitations to beauty shops, barbers, and local churches asking them to the
roundtable discussion, but only a dozen attended. Ward said that supporters for
education are faced with the stigma and misinformation about HIV/AIDS, and they
cannot talk about it in the school system because of the abstinence-only sex
education curriculum.
Janice Brown with the county health
department shared statistics on the disease. From 2005–2010, there were 730
cases of HIV/AIDS in West Tennessee, excluding Shelby and Madison Counties,
Brown stated. Of those cases, 133 were persons ages 15 to 34. In Madison
County, there are 304 reported cases of HIV/AIDS; most are people 25–34 years
old. Brown said those numbers are why it is important for young people to get
tested for the disease. She emphasized that “the most important thing we can do
is to get people to care.” She noted that testing won’t hurt people and that
there is an oral test in which the health department swipes people’s gums for
those who do not want to do a blood test.
Brown went on to say that more than
160 cases of HIV/AIDS in West Tennessee were from male-to-male sexual
exchanges. Almost the same number—150—were from male-to-female sexual
exchanges. She noted that this highlights that the disease does not just affect
one group of people. Fisher Smith said despite the bad news, there is hope.
“Gay white men have the least amount of contracting cases because they’ve
educated themselves on safe practices,” Smith added. “Others can do the same.
Things are getting better; they’re just getting better at a slow pace.”
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is
dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and
empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV
virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE REMAIN STRONG!
