About 65 people attended a Feb. 7 forum on AIDS in the black community at the West Bay Conference Center on Fillmore Street. Attendees of the event, held in conjunction with National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, chose to focus on positive aspects of the fight against the disease in the black community.

“We have work to do, but let that not preclude us from celebrating the work that has been done thus far,” said keynote speaker Brett Andrews, executive director of Positive Resource Center.

As he delivered his top 10 thoughts on addressing HIV, Andrews highlighted the importance of involving churches in the movement. He also discussed strategies for preventing HIV in the next generation. “We’re the cause, and they’re the effect,” he noted.

A 2004-2005 CDC study based on data from five cities, including San Francisco, found that 46 percent of black men who have sex with men (MSM) were HIV-positive. Gavin Morrow-Hall, associate director of community education and recruitment for the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH), said that means 54 percent are HIV-negative, and it is important to help those people stay that way. “We must all continue in the fight,” he said.

Norman Tanner, co-founder of Black Brothers Esteem, a group that offers HIV prevention and support services, reminded attendees that the community continues to suffer from a lack of education about HIV and too much AIDS stigma.

SFDPH is seeking participants for a study it is involved in called Project PrEPare (Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis). The study seeks to determine whether taking the HIV drug Truvada as a PrEP agent is safe and effective for preventing HIV among HIV-negative MSM. For more information about the PrEPare study, telephone 415-554-8888.

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