Volume XVIII, Number 4 December 7, 1987
AIDS: a growing problem in the
blacic community
by JOYCE ROGERS
Staff Writer
Although Blacks make up only 12%
of the U.S. population, they currently ac
count tor an alarming 25% of all AIDS
cases. Nearly twt)-thirds of AIDS victims
so far have been homosexual men, but the
rale of new infection among gays has
declined, while the rate among Blacks has
risen. Medical experts fear that unless
urgent actions arc taken to stop the rapid
spread of AIDS in the Black community,
it may become a predominantly minority
disease.
Why is the percentage of Blacks with
AIDS so disproportionate to the total
Black population? Some experts say that
Black leaders are slow to acknowledge the
problem because they fear a backlash ot
racial discrimination. This may push
Blacks further away from full participa
tion in mainstream society.
Intravenous drug users account for a
large number of Black AIDS victims,
especially in large cities. These people
spread AIDS by sharing needles and pass
ing the disease on to their mates. Even
tually, the children born to mothers with
AIDS contract the disease during birth or
from the mother's milk. Black babies are
25 times more likely to get the disease
than white babies. Tragically, many of
these babies are orphaned or abandoned.
Lack of educational programs and
funds also contribute to the dispropor
tionate rate of AIDS among Blacks. Drug
addicts and inner-city, poverty-striken
blacks are less likely to have access to in
formation about AIDS and funds for
health care. Without the financial
' V
resources and support groups that middle-
class white gays have or have lobbied for,
black victims have a shorter life span. The
average life expectancy of a minority per-
st)n with AIDS is as little as 19 weeks after
diagnosis, compared with two years for
a white person.
One view which attempts to explain
the high rise of AIDS in the black com
munity suggests that blacks have generally
looked at AIDS as a disese which only af
fects the gay white community.
Therefore, blacks have failed to take
necessary precautions that should have
been taken. Consequently they have left
themselves prey to the deadly disease.
Fortunately there are some signs of
progress in the black community in the
fight against AIDS. In January of this year
the National Urban League addressed the
problem in a report on AIDS and
American blacks by Dr. Beny J. Primm,
executive director of Brooklyn's Addic
tion Research and Treatment Corp. Also,
the Southern Christian Leadership Con
ference has held two national seminars on
AIDS in the Black community. In addi
tion to the measures, the Congressional
Black Caucus and the NAACP have ex
plored the issue at conferences.
Funding for treatment and educa
tional programs in the black community
through minority organizations from the
government is another measure aimed at
slowing the spread of AIDS. Education
and funding are two major ways to com
bat the alarming rate of AIDS in the black
community.
Michael Jordan. Story on page 7. (photo by Fred Gorham)
U Academic S] Skeltons in tiie
2] iMore on AIDS Aciiievers Cioset H] Magic IMiciiaei