Florida: Forum Urges HIV Education Among Blacks

On March 29, Women Empowered - Responding to Serve Valued People (WE-RSVP) held its third annual health forum at First Baptist Church of Bunche Park. The event focused on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the black community.

Keynote speaker Deborah Holmes, an internal medicine specialist affiliated with Mt. Sinai Medical Center, presented grim statistics on the disease's impact on blacks. African Americans account for 50 percent of all new HIV cases though they comprise just 13 percent of the U.S. population, compared with Hispanics, who make up 14 percent of the population and 18 percent of new cases, and whites, who comprise 68 percent of the population and 30 percent of new cases. Among men who have sex with men, the HIV rate of blacks is twice that of whites, she noted.

According to Florence Greer, regional minority AIDS coordinator for the Miami-Dade Health Department, 3,092 residents of Opa-locka and Miami Gardens are living with AIDS and 1,180 are living with HIV. Greer's focus is on prevention, testing and early treatment. Through www.wemakethechange.com, the state and partnering local health departments offer information on a range of HIV/AIDS initiatives targeting minorities, she said.

In addition to performances by several local groups, the meeting included remarks from Juan Carlos Riacos of Abbott Laboratories, who urged attendees age 18 and over to join Magic Johnson's anti-AIDS campaign at www.IStandWithMagic.com.

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