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Case Western Reserve University runs
an Infectious Disease Alliance, a grant-funded program linking the university's
research to community needs. Known as the “ID Alliance,” the program relies on
peer educators who help combat a growing local and national health crisis. In
2012, new cases of HIV in Cuyahoga County reached the highest level in six
years, with black males ages 16–19 accounting for all 11 HIV infections among
teens. According to CDC, one out of every four new HIV infections in the United
States occurs in 13–24-year-olds.
Amanda Healan, a co-director of the
ID Alliance, stated, “The idea is to reach teens before their sexual debut, so
they have information on how to have safe sex before they have sex." The
ID Alliance trains peer educators in sexual education and self-defense, and
provides medical specialists as teachers, including a sexual assault nurse
examiner. The four peer educators, chosen from a group of 37 local high schools
applicants, spent the last months of this school year collaborating on a public
health campaign targeting teens in high-risk ZIP codes. They worked in a local
clinic, talking to teens one-on-one, and taught at after-school programs. The
peer educators grew up in the neighborhoods as their target audiences and are
aware of the odds they face in fighting HIV and STDs.
According to the Cuyahoga County
Health Department’s recent data, Cuyahoga County reported 364 new HIV cases in
2012, bringing the total to 4,591 HIV-positive residents; in 2011, blacks
comprised 67.2 percent of all chlamydia cases in Cuyahoga County and 77.1
percent of all gonococcal infections, which are caused by gonorrhea; and in
2011, teens ages 15–19 accounted for 41.8 percent of all chlamydia cases in the
county.
The ID Alliance’s peer education
program has been in high demand since its June 2012 launch. Angel Brown, a
senior program manager for Advocates for Youth, declared, "The value of
peer educator programming is that it has far greater reach than adults could
ever have.” Healan noted the challenge of retaining the peer educators, with
some of them graduating and going on to college. She stated that next year, the
ID Alliance intends to pair up the new recruits with senior peer educators to
motivate them to stay in the program.
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!
