World AIDS Day Stresses Education, Prevention

With World AIDS Day approaching on Dec. 1, both treatment and prevention are once again issues of great interest. "This is a day to raise awareness about this epidemic," said Laura Ruppert, AIDS Foundation Houston (AFH) communications coordinator. Of the 18,585 AIDS cases diagnosed in Harris County through 2001, 89 percent were residents of Houston, according to the city Department of Health and Human Services.

Founded in 1982, AFH counsels patients with HIV/AIDS, many of whom are also challenged by additional illnesses, addiction, or homelessness. "In our client base, we have seen a huge increase in African-American females in their early 20s," Ruppert said. AFH has 3,289 active clients, and approximately 74 new clients sign up each month.

Ruppert said that part of the problem is that people are uneducated about HIV/AIDS. "People have medications now so you aren't seeing the ugliness of the disease as much," she said. To inform the public about the threat of AIDS, AFH attends raves, participates in street outreach programs, and sponsors several Web sites. One site, www.generationsex.org, offers an interactive learning experience about HIV prevention and sex. It is aimed at a college-age audience and goes beyond the usual push for abstinence.

AFH is a category 501c3 community based non-profit organization that receives funding from the private sector and from government grants, which allow services to be provided to clients at low cost. The Houston Health Department reports that the number of AIDS cases transmitted heterosexually rose from 5 percent of total cases in 1990 to 23 percent of total cases in 2000. "Some people still think [AIDS] is a gay, white man's disease," Ruppert said. "It's not."

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