AIDS and U.S.

As Keith Boykin mentions on his blog, I also was at a 4-day conference of Black Gay men in San Juan, Puerto Rico last week. The conference was primarily focussed around trying to organize a coherent response to the AIDS crisis in the Black gay male community from the Black gay male community.

With the news from last summer that 46% of Black gay men in one study ofurban settings are HIV+ and that the more recent news that the rate of syphilis infection for Black males is NOT decreasing (unlike most segments of the U.S. population) the issue becomes more urgent in one's consciousness.

One thing I learned at the conference in Puerto Rico is that the government bureaucrat who is primarily responsible for the Center for Disease Control's Division of STD,HIV and TB Prevention is Kevin Fenton, an openly gay, Black man. The people there who had direct experience with Dr. Fenton seemed to be favorably impressed.

What Keith asked yesterday was "Are We Doing Enough About AIDS?" and I think this is a good question. As Phill Wilson noted in one of his more pointed remarks to the assembled gathering,

"In 2006 we will be marking the 25th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS [June 4, 1981 in Los Angeles], the 10th anniversary of HAART [Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy, i.e. the AIDS cocktail] and the first time the World AIDS Conference will be held in North America [Toronto, Canada in August]. If we can't get Black institutions and individuals to pay attention to AIDS this year then it simply can't be done!"

I'd like to hear suggestions from people how we can renew attention on AIDS this year.