| HIV: The forgotten epidemic, part 1 (10/04) | | Print | |
| Tuesday, 09 November 2004 | ||||||||||
The numbers are frightening: Only 65 percent of sexually active students in the district used a condom the last time they had sex, according to a 2003 district survey. This behavior could have devastating consequences, as young people under 29 account for 28 percent of California’s HIV cases, and California has the second-highest number of HIV cases nation-wide. With numbers like these indicating the potentially life-threatening effects of risky behavior, why aren’t youth being more cautious? Relatively high numbers of young people put themselves at risk for HIV because of many reasons: lack of education, awareness or apathy, according to Jeff Jones, spokesman for Stop AIDS, a non-profit organization that provides education, prevention and support services for HIV-positive people in the Bay Area. Disappearing Funds Despite the fact that youth are continuing to put themselves at risk for becoming another statistic in the continuing AIDS epidemic, HIV awareness programs like Stop AIDS are not getting adequate governmental support, according to people who work in the field.
The national budget crisis is one factor that has affected HIV education, Jones said. “Stop AIDS used to be funded by the Center for Disease Control, but this time because of budget cuts we don’t have that funding,” he said. After losing direct federal funding, however, the organization was able to obtain funds from the San Francisco AIDS office’s HIV-prevention unit, which receives money from the CDC and then decides which organizations will receive a portion of that funding, according to Lisa Reyes, a member of the prevention unit, which serves about 50 HIV/AIDS-focused organizations a year. The prevention unit allocates funding to programs based on the city’s behavioral risk statistics, giving priority to programs that focus on the most at-risk population. “Funding goes to those who are hardest hit,” Reyes said.
The city AIDS office was able to fund only six out of eight of Stop AIDS’ programs this year, and the office is anticipating even more cuts to federal funding in the future. “Everyone will be hit at every level,” Reyes said. Changing Politics Nonetheless, despite funding cuts, California’s HIV education is “pretty cutting-edge,” in comparison to other programs nation-wide, Jones said. Californian students receive better HIV-prevention education in part because California is the only state that did not accept federal funding in return for teaching abstinence-only programs, according to Planned Parenthood representative Erin Kiernon. HIV-prevention education is also state-mandated, Kiernon said. Another strngth of the state’s prevention programs is their scientific approach, Kiernon said. Last year California Senator Sheila Kuehl passed a law that requires California schools to teach using only accurate scientific facts, instead of using “scare tactics.”
The California picture, however, is not entirely rosy. Many organizations have had to change the way they operate as federal officials shift toward a more conservative, restrictive approach toward HIV prevention, Reyes said. The American government wants “funding to go that way too,” she added, which would make it “really hard” for programs that focus on counseling and education as an integral part of HIV prevention. “They want it to be just like if you were getting a flu shot,” Reyes said. But “it’s not enough to test someone and tell them positive or negative.” Another potential barrier in educating young people about HIV prevention is Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s new law that requires schools to notify parents of any HIV education or sexuality guest speaker, according to Kiernon, Having governmental support in the fight against HIV is crucial, according to those who work to prevent the spread of the disease. “If we don’t have elected officials giving (HIV prevention) priority, it’s not going to get fixed,” Kiernon said. Reyes agreed. “We need our federal funding — last time we got $10 million,” Reyes said. “We can’t do it without federal funding, unfortunately.” The AIDS office will comply with Federal regulations and continue to provide counseling, support and education services, Reyes said. Ignoring the Facts Such educational services are crucial in preventing HIV, as several factors come into play when teens have unsafe sex. “Drugs are a big factor,” Jones said. “In California there’s a big crystal meth epidemic.” A high number of HIV-positive people say that they think they contracted the virus when they were using crystal meth, Jones said. Crystal meth lowers inhibitions, clouds judgment and increases sex drive, according Jones.
“When you put chemicals in your body, it impairs your judgment,” Jones said. “That’s when mistakes happen.” Even when teens are sober, they are likely to put themselves at risk if they have dangerous misconceptions about the disease. “There’s still a misconception in society that only gay people can get HIV,” Jones said. Sometimes this misconception affects gay men as well. Many young gay men feel that contracting HIV is “inevitable,” said Curtis Moore, spokesman for Bay Area Young Positives, a support group for HIV-positive youth. Curtis added that gay youth may feel that they should “get it over with” so that they will not continue to worry about contracting the disease. Jones said that other youth tend to feel that they are invincible, partly because they have not witnessed the deadly disease first-hand. Teens “haven’t lived through the worst part of the epidemic … (and) haven’t seen their friends dying because of AIDS,” Jones said. Another common misconception among youth is that condoms are not necessary when having sex with a committed partner, according to Kiernon, who stressed how unsafe such a practice can be. “If you aren’t sure (your partner) is being monogamous, and both of you haven’t been tested, you should use a condom,” she said. Misleading Media
Pharmacy companies also glamorize AIDS and imply that the disease is manageable, according to Jones. Many companies’ ads feature young, healthy models, who bely the debilitating side effects of AIDS medication. “It’s not true — drugs don’t work for everybody, and can have horrible side-effects,” Jones said. Moore agreed. “HIV drugs reduced the death rate, but the quality of life is not as good,” he said, adding that many drugs cause diarrhea, hypertension, fatigue, weight-loss and night sweats. Many people must take other medications to counteract the side effects of their daily AIDS medications, according to Moore. Testing Positive Even HIV-positive youth sometimes disregard the severity of the disease. Teens often do not want to face the restrictions HIV imposes on them, and they especially do not want to be reminded that they are sick, Moore said. “They want to be carefree… they want to have fun.”
Despite misconceptions, budget cutbacks, non-comprehensive education and misleading media, youth can still get educated, according to Jones, who noted that several media outlets, including MTV, run special campaigns. The BAY Positives group, dedicated to “empowering” HIV-positive youth 14 years ago, continues to focus on educating and supporting HIV-positive adolescents, according to Moore. Many HIV-positive youth feel ostracized and isolated, and BAY Positives offers them a place to meet other HIV-positive people. Moore hopes that HIV-positive youth will speak out about their disease will have a strong impact on teens. “Young people (should) become their own messengers,” he said.
Stop AIDS hosts the Positive Living for Us Seminars, which provides support groups and educational information for newly diagnosed-HIV-positive people. Jones estimated that about 20 percent of the PLUS seminar attendees are under 27 years old. Stop AIDS holds about 25 seminars per month; to register, go online to the Stop AIDS website (www.stopaids.org/programs/events/index.html). “HIV-positive youth should know that there’s a place to come and get support and education,” Jones said. “They don’t have to do it alone — all they have to do is reach out — there’s a whole community to support them.” Reyes said that, in order to fight the epidemic, “Grassroots will have to grow up from the community because the federal government is not paying attention.”
During the 1980s, HIV-focused education, media, commercials and movies were common, but now, “People don’t even think about it as much anymore,” Reyes said. But “people are still dying.” Share this article:           |
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to listen.
