Native American Group Says Stigma Surrounding AIDS Prevents Many from Receiving Treatment

Many Native Americans infected with HIV/AIDS are not treated for the disease because of the stigma surrounding it in their communities, members of an Indian group said at an annual meeting. Poverty, isolation and poor medical care also contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS among Indians, said participants in a briefing Tuesday at the National Congress of American Indians in Spokane, Wash.

The number of Indians known to have HIV/AIDS remains relatively small, in part because the Indian population is so small and many Indians are not tested for the disease. There have been 3,208 Indians infected with HIV from the beginning of the epidemic through last December, according to the CDC. Of those, 2,337 people developed AIDS, and 1,217 have died, the agency said. But the rate of AIDS among Indians is 11.3 per 100,000 people, compared to 9 per 100,000 for whites, the CDC said. US Surgeon General David Satcher recently labeled HIV/AIDS a time bomb among Indians.

The federal government and Indian tribes are trying to increase awareness, testing and treatment of AIDS, said Michael Bird, executive director of National Native American AIDS Prevention Center. He said the federal government should provide health care for Indians with AIDS because of its history of taking over Indian lands. Infected Indians may not have easy access to a clinic to be tested for HIV, or to obtain drugs for treatment, said Jeanne Bertolli, an epidemiologist for the CDC involved in AIDS prevention efforts. As a result, a person with HIV can spend years passing the disease to others, she said. Bertolli said the federal government should provide more money for education programs. She said there should also be better reporting on the number of HIV/AIDS cases among Indians, and more drug treatments available.

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