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State of HIV in Black America and here in Onondaga County

John Smith / WAER News

Healthcare representatives and concerned members of the Syracuse and Onondaga County community joined a webcast today from New York City called State of HIV in Black America… the Intersection of Health, Education and Community in the Fight to END Aids.  Sometimes adults who grew up around substance abuse often become drug users themselves. That’s according to V-P of Aids United, Dr. Vignetta Charles.  She explains that makes getting a place to live and staying clean difficult.

 “If you try to get into a housing project and you’re not clean, right, and you’re still using; they’re not going to sign you up for a housing project. And what we found, we’ve supported this project in Pittsburgh. It’s crime reduction housing; so you can come in, if you’re still an active user. Those folks are 69 percent retention in care.”

Here in Onondaga County the problem with young, black men having unprotected sex is adding to the spread of H-I-V. They often go to get tested at ACR Health.  Senior Prevention Health Advocate K. Daniel Reed tested more than 100 individuals in 2014 and he says all came out preliminary positive.

 “...were all between the ages of 21 and 30. They were all African American. Low economic status. So you can see in our community, it’s happening and it’s happening to that young black men who have  sex with men population.”

Reed adds that the black community in America is disproportionately affected by the spread of HIV / Aids.

 “Whereas the instances of HIV (have) gone down, the number of incidences within the black community has not. So where we are making some successes in America; however, in Black America, we have a lot more work to do.” 

According to Reed the other ways people can get HIV / Aids is through blood transmission, usually through sharing needles for drug use and mothers with HIV who breast feed. The discussion was organized by the National Black Leadership Commission on Aids, Inc. Their website is NBLCAdot org. President Obama is proposing a 12.6 million dollar increase to be utilized by the CDC for prevention efforts. 

John Smith has been waking up WAER listeners for a long time as our Local Co-Host of Morning Edition with timely news and information, working alongside student Sportscasters from the Newhouse School.