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Gay Peoples Chronicle

September 1986

AIDS IN THE

BLACK COMMUNITY

By Dr. JACOB GAYLE

Through the efforts of the national Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays (NCBLG), 600 health professionals and concerned individuals

gay,

were convened in Washington, D.C. on July 18 for the first annual "AIDS in the Black Community" conference.

The one-day. conference focused primarily upon concerns related to the disproportionate exposure rates of black gay and bisexual men but also spoke to general concerns in the black community. Black men account for 25 percent of all gay and bisexual male cases of AIDS in the United Staes. "Black men are at high risk for everything and AIDS is no exception," said Henry Chinn, founder of the Black Men's Association of Boston. Others further suggested that black men have greater difficulty publicly acknowledging their homosexuality than do white men, and that efforts at reaching these black men at risk aře hampered by this.

Chinn, along with psychologist Dr. Julius Johnson, noted that black men often choose to hide "the sexuality issue," and instead claim to have been infected through drug abuse.

Chinn further asserted that for many black men, bisexuality is simply seen as "something that they do, not a lifestyle." This This denial then puts many black women at risk unknowingKief Dr. Wayne Greaves,

of Infectious Diseases at Howard University Hospital, stated that "black women account for 52 percent of all female cases of AIDS. Of 270 children with AIDS, 60 percent are black. With blacks representing only 11 percent of the United States population, these are serious numbers."

Representing the Ohio Department of Health's recentV developed

program

for

AIDS

awareness in Ohio's black Communities, were Dr. Marcia Chambers and Dr. Jacob Gayle. Dr. Gayle presented Ohio's current AIDS statistics at the conference caucus for minority AIDS educators, and presentd the Ohio Department of Health's plan for educating its communities.

It

Our plan is two-fold. is vital that we help the black communities at-large recognize that, while AIDS is not simply a gay white man's problem, neither is it 1 disease of casual transmission. Furthermore, many blacks assume that acknowential community problem somehow suggests endorsement of homosexuality. We must emphasize that AIDS kills human beings, black human beings.

Secondarily the Ohio Department of Health AIDS program seeks to develop dialogue with the high-risk populations to discuss ideas for minimizing the threat of the fatal disease. Ohio still remains in the forefront, along with other progressive states, in terms of its prevention efforts.

Despite the gravity of the issue within the nation's black communities, the vast majority of national black professional and civic organizations chose not to respond to NCBLG's personal invitations to attend this conference. During his address to the conference delegation, District of Columbia mayor Marion Berry urged continued efforts to involve all areas of black community organization to focus upon this serious threat to the health of all.

For more information about the "AIDS in the Black Community" conference or the Ohio Department of Health AIDS in the Black Community program, contact Dr. Jacob Gayle or Dr. Marcia Chambers at (614) 466-5480

BUCK HARRIS AND DR. JACOB GAYLE, OHIO DEPT. OF HEALTH

OHIO AIDS UPDATE

As the number of cases of IDS

continues to grow, so goes the work of the Ohio Department of Health to control and disrupt the spread of this lethal disease

As of Jung cases of RADS

reported

to the Centers for Disease Control. Eighty percent of the Ohio cases are among gay and bisexual men.

came

Since reporting of ARC bemandatory in May of this year, we have logged 15

cases.

Of the 3,644 people tested at the Alternative Testing Sites in the first year of operating, 487 (21%) tested positive. There has not been an increased rate of posi-

tivity each quarter, which could indicate that people are in fact changing behavior in ways to stop the spread of the virus.

As the epidemic worsens the Ohio Department of Health has escalated its AIDS-related activities. There are now ll full-time staff working exclusively on AIDS education, surveillance, epidemiology, and patient services. Two major focus areas for the upcoming year are the development of out-of-hospital care services and educating the black community about AIDS. To that end, ODH has contracted with Dr. Jacob Gayle to implement this program.

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