Rate of AIDS Growing for Alaska Natives

Officials say the rate of HIV/AIDS in Alaska Natives has gradually increased since 1997. Alison Bell, a medical epidemiologist specializing in HIV and other STDs, said one reason for the increase could be that more Alaska Natives are being tested for the disease. On the other hand, she said, the rise also could mean the stigma of AIDS continues and people aren't being tested in time, thus spreading the disease. Alaska Natives and American Indians, who make up 17 percent of the state's population, account for 21 percent of HIV/AIDS cases reported since 1982 -- though that figure fell to 18 percent in 1997. Caucasians, who make up 74 percent of the population, account for 59 percent of total cases. Statistics by the Alaska Division of Public Health don't show whether the majority of HIV and AIDS cases among Alaska Natives are among people who live in urban or in rural areas of the state. But Meg Gerson, youth outreach specialist and case manager at Interior AIDS Association, noted the cost of providing services in the villages as one reason for the increasing rate of the disease among Alaska Natives.

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