National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – A Model for the Asian American Community?

February 7th was the 11th anniversary of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. HIV/AIDS has had a disproportionate impact on the Black community in this country.

Here’s quote from the CDC website:

“By race/ethnicity, African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV in the United States. At the end of 2007, blacks accounted for almost half (46%) of people living with a diagnosis of HIV infection in the 37 states and 5 US-dependent areas with long-term, confidential, name-based HIV reporting.”

State, local and national organizations have created and implemented activities focused on motivating African Americans to get tested and learn their HIV status, as well as educating communities about the importance of prevention. No doubt these efforts have saved lives.

It would seem high time that the Asian American communities across the nation organize a similar day related to hepatitis B. Asian Americans constitute more than 50% of all individuals chronically infected with hepatitis B, yet there is little national attention to this problem. I have contacted a colleague of mine with the CDC Viral Hepatitis Division about the possibility of replicating a national HBV recognition day in the Asian American community. I will keep you posted as to his response. However, it should be said that regardless of the CDC interest in this initiative, Asian American communities throughout the country should organize and act.

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

Giving Thanks

I have many, many reasons to give thanks this Thanksgiving Day, some of which will be enunciated around the dinner table later today. In this post, however, I choose to give thanks to the 2,499 men who participated in a research trial testing the effectiveness of taking an anti-HIV medication to prevent HIV infection. In a major new study published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine, it was shown that taking a daily anti-HIV pill reduces the risk by 44% of becoming infected with HIV among gay men. This is an incredibly important finding with significant implications for HIV prevention in the 21st century. Here’s the link to a New York Times article about the study.

For this study to occur, however, men from around the world (Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, South Africa, Thailand and the United States) had to agree to participate. This means that each participant consented to being evaluated every four weeks for several years, knowing that he had a 50% chance of being randomly assigned to the placebo group (unbeknownst to him). While all participants received safe sex education, condoms and STD treatment, as indicated, being in the placebo group meant that the individual did not receive the study medication with its potential value of preventing infection. The result is that a number of men in the placebo group became infected with HIV, some of whom very likely would not have been infected had they been selected for the treatment group. In essence, they risked their lives for the sake of health research.

While there are still many knotty issues surrounding this new HIV prevention medication (e.g., efficacy outside the group of gay men, cost, drug accessibility, and drug resistance, to name a few), it’s certainly a time for celebration and thanks. Many millions of people will benefit from the results of this study. My hat is off to all 2,499 men who participated in the study. From those of us working in the HIV/AIDS field in the past, present and future: we salute you.

-Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director

No time for HIV/AIDS complacency

I have only had a chance to glance through the new National HIV/AIDS Strategy, but I can tell you it could not have come any sooner. Interest in HIV/AIDS, which has become a largely treatable disease, has waned in this country over the last decade. With 56,000 new infections annually, and 1.1 million individuals currently infected, now is not the time for declaring victory on this front.

The document was created with broad input and addresses four main areas for concerted action: reducing new infections, increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV, reducing HIV-related health disparities and health inequities, and achieving a more coordinated national response to the HIV epidemic.

For me, I like the vision for the plan: “The United States will become a place where new HIV infections are rare, and when they do occur, every person, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socio-economic circumstance will have unfettered access to high-quality, life-extending care, free from stigma and discrimination."

I look forward to the day that a similar national plan is developed for the hepatitis epidemic in this country. But for now, we need to remain vigilant on multiple health fronts. HIV/AIDS is an infection with a profound impact on this country and the world. Effective action is absolutely critical.

- Doug Hirano, MPH, APCA Executive Director