Florida: County to Use AIDS Grant for Prevention

At a Manatee County Leadership Summit Saturday, Tom Liberti, chief of Florida's Bureau of HIV/AIDS, announced a Florida Department of Health award of $50,000 to the county to help reverse its HIV/AIDS epidemic. The money will help implement an action plan to address the findings of a federally funded research project that linked Manatee County's soaring infection rates to drug abuse, prostitution and a disconnect between prevention efforts and those most at risk.

Florida ranks third in cumulative AIDS cases, and Manatee County ranks among the top 150 most AIDS-infected U.S. counties. Health department statistics show one in every 174 county residents has AIDS. In 2000, a Congressional ranking listed Manatee as one of the 20 rural counties most affected by AIDS.

Dr. Gladys Branic, health department director, said she hoped the summit would garner widespread support among county leaders for HIV outreach. She looks forward to a time when HIV testing is a routine medical procedure and people can immediately be linked to services.

Valerie Wojciechowicz, an HIV/AIDS educator, told the summit that she lost her job 17 years ago when a routine insurance physical revealed she has HIV. Wendell Martin, a black man with AIDS, said elected officials must be held accountable for increasing HIV/AIDS outreach. The Rev. Quintin Parker, founder of Churches United to Stop HIV (CUSH), said religious leaders need to be actively engaged in the campaign against HIV/AIDS.

Throughout June, Manatee Education Television will broadcast the Leadership Summit on channel 21, Bright House Cable, at 9:30 p.m. Thursdays and 11 a.m. Fridays. For information on the AIDS Coalition meeting this Thursday, telephone 941-748-0747, extension 1387.

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