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Another net cast in AIDS fight

High rates of HIV infections among blacks prompted the opening of a minority AIDS initiative in Pasco and Hernando counties.

By CAMILLE C. SPENCER
Published September 18, 2006

NEW PORT RICHEY - He was 17 when he got the phone call that changed his life.

It was in Newark, N.J., 1981. Low on cash, Benjamin Dunn donated blood for money. But his blood turned out to be unusable because tests showed he had full-blown AIDS.

"I went into denial," said Dunn, a gay black man who said he contracted the disease from unprotected sex. "You don't see nothing, and you don't feel different, so you don't think anything is wrong."

The alarming rates at which blacks such as Dunn are contracting HIV and AIDS prompted the July opening of the Minority AIDS Initiative of Pasco and Hernando counties.

Hillsborough and Pinellas counties already have MAI programs, which are funded by $78,334 in federal dollars earmarked for minority AIDS programs by the Congressional Black Caucus.

But a seven-county study conducted last year by the Ryan White Care Council, a nonprofit Tampa-based group, found a lack of available services for minority HIV and AIDS patients in Pasco and Hernando.

"We were hearing from medical providers that they needed help in these counties," said Vivian Candelaria, director of the Tampa Bay AIDS Network and Gulf Coast Community Care.

"Minorities have the biggest barriers, especially in Pasco and Hernando counties. Clients have limited resources, there's a high poverty and high homeless rate, and a lack of understanding and support in the community."

Misconceptions about HIV and AIDS patients sometimes prevent a patient from getting treated, Candelaria said.

"Oftentimes, folks have their own preconceived notions of the illness," she said. "They think someone diagnosed with HIV was a prostitute or gay or a drug user. Bottom line is, it could be any one of us."

At the MAI in Pasco and Hernando, three caseworkers provide services for about 200 people, said Paul Watkins, one of the program's medical educators. Bilingual staff members are available, Watkins said.

The MAI also performs AIDS testing, which involves a cotton swab held inside a person's mouth for one minute before being sent to a lab. Results come back in 10 days.

Meanwhile, those living with the disease, such as Dunn, are finding ways to cope.

"I have the disease, but the disease doesn't have me," Dunn said. "It's what you make of it. I look at it like cancer or diabetes. We are all going to die someday. I don't feel condemned."

TO LEARN MORE

For more information on the Minority AIDS Initiative in Pasco and Hernando counties, call (727) 816-1235 or drop by 5744 Missouri Ave. in New Port Richey.

AIDS FACTS

- AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is caused by HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the body's immune system. HIV can only be contracted through an infected person's blood or sexual contact.

- About 500,000 Americans have died of AIDS since the disease first appeared in the early '80s.

- All positive HIV tests and AIDS cases must be reported to the Florida Department of Health. Through 2005, there were 81,585 Floridians living with HIV or AIDS.

- Blacks account for 51 percent of people living with HIV and AIDS, but make up only 14 percent of the population.

- HIV/AIDS is the leading cause of death among black men and women between the ages of 25 and 44.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Florida Department of Health.

Camille C. Spencer can be reached at (727)869-6229 or cspencer@sptimes.com.

[Last modified September 18, 2006, 06:54:33]