Delaware Turns Attention to Curbing AIDS

The Delaware Division of Public Health has launched a new campaign to increase AIDS awareness and prompt HIV testing among black residents. The "We Make the Change" campaign, which began Aug. 1, encourages residents to get tested in hopes of curbing the spread of the disease in the state, said Heidi Truschel-Light, Delaware Health and Social Services spokesperson.

Blacks have the fastest growing HIV rate in the state, she said. At the end of last year, 46 percent of all AIDS cases in the country were diagnosed in blacks in their 30s. "Anyone who doesn't know their HIV status and is sexually active could be spreading the disease or going without proper medical services," Truschel-Light said. The department has distributed brochures and posters to health care providers and contracted with agencies to provide testing and counseling, she said. Frank Hawkins, AIDS Delaware educational and outreach director said, "Everyone needs to come out, get tested and get educated because right now, Delaware has the third highest number of AIDS cases per capita in the country."

Truschel-Light said the number of black women who are infected is rising quickly. She said 701 in 100,000 black women in Delaware are HIV positive, compared with 275 in 100,000 Hispanic women and 32 in 100,000 white women. This is partly because of the high infection rate among black men, which is attributed to drug use, she said. Therefore, their partners, typically black women, also have a high rate, Truschel-Light said. Alyson Lang, executive director of Each One Teach One, a private organization that promotes HIV education, said her group will provide counseling and testing for the campaign. To find free, confidential and anonymous testing, call the HIV/STD hotline at 800-422-0429.

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