MOULTRIE - National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, which falls on Sunday, Feb. 7, aims at educating African Americans about a disease that takes a disproportionate toll on their community.

 
"The theme for this year''s observance is ''HIV/AIDS Prevention- A Choice and a Lifestyle,''" Southwest District Public Health Director Jacqueline Grant said. "Education is our most powerful tool against the disease. By understanding the risk factors they control, African Americans can make decisions that can protect against HIV/AIDS and prevent it from spreading."

On Saturday, Feb. 6, the Southwest Georgia chapter of the Ryan White Consortium is hosting the third annual "Singing for a Cure" concert in honor of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. The event is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. at Oakridge Baptist Church, 1708 Oakridge Drive in Albany, and will feature choirs, praise teams and praise dancers from throughout Southwest Georgia.

Today''s young people have lived their entire lives in the shadow of HIV/AIDS, which was identified in the United States nearly three decades ago, Grant said.

"Yet misunderstandings and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS continue to persist, and information fatigue has set in," Grant said.

African Americans currently account for more than 49 percent of the more than 1 million diagnosed AIDS cases, even though they make up only 13 percent of the population. In Georgia, Grant said the disparity is even more dramatic.

"The cumulative number of reported AIDS cases through 2005, the most recent data available, reveals that 65.6 percent of Georgia''s 30,405 cases are within the African American population," Grant said. "Next highest is the white population, with 31.4 percent, followed by Hispanics with 2.6 percent."

Barriers faced by many African Americans are behind the gap, Grant said.

"These barriers can include poverty, poor access to healthcare, untreated sexually transmitted diseases and fear or other stigma leading to delayed testing, diagnosis and treatment," Grant said. "Such delays in turn lead to worsened outcomes and an increased potential to spread the disease."

The message of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day is: "Get educated, get tested, get involved, get treated," and Grant said Southwest District''s HIV AIDS program offers opportunities to do all that and more.

"We provide education, testing, counseling, contact and partner identification, notification and referral for treatment through our 14 county health departments," Grant said. "Plus, patients and prospective patients can be reassured that we take patient confidentiality extremely seriously. We don''t want anyone to use privacy concerns as an excuse to avoid HIV screening, education or treatment."

African Americans at higher risk for HIV include those:

• who are unaware of their partner''s risk factors.

• who have other sexually transmitted diseases.

• who live in poverty (which is about 25 percent of all African Americans).

SOURCE:Staff Reports