KQED's "California Report" Examines HIV/AIDS Prevention Efforts on California-Mexico Border

In the fourth of a five-part series titled, "Crossing the Border: Mexico and California's Shared Health Challenges," KQED's "The California Report" on Monday reported on HIV/AIDS outreach efforts to bridge the medical and cultural divides between Tijuana and San Diego. HIV/AIDS education campaigns targeted at binational residents are working to address issues such as the cost of HIV testing, which is expensive in Mexico but provided at no cost and with incentives to return for test results in California; the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS in Mexico; and taboos in Latino culture around discussing sex, especially regarding men who have sex with men or with sex workers. The segment includes comments from Jorge Bedoya, board member of AFABI, an HIV/AIDS education center in Tijuana; Terry Cunningham, director of the Office of AIDS Coordination for the San Diego County Health Department; Rosana Scolari, director of HIV services at the San Ysidro Health Center, which is located two miles from the border in California; and HIV-positive clients at border health centers (Shafer, "The California Report," KQED, 11/14). The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

The fifth segment in the series, which is scheduled to air on Nov. 21, will examine the impact of HIV/AIDS on the families and communities of seasonal farm workers in the Mexican state of Jalisco who divide their time between California and Mexico. The segment also will profile local and national HIV/AIDS education efforts (Shafer, "The California Report," KQED, 11/21). The complete segment will be available online in RealPlayer after the broadcast. Expanded coverage of the KQED series is available online.

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