HIV on the rise in Bloomington

According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV is higher than it has ever been in the United States. \nOf the more than one million people in the country who have this fatal disease, three-fourths are men and almost half are black. Bloomington, according to the State Board of Health, reflects these numbers. It is far from being tamed, yet there seems to be less attention brought to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in America today than in previous years when the disease first began to spread. \n"People are becoming numb to the information. (They are) tired of hearing about it," said Anne Reese, the director of Health and Wellness at IU. Reese said she feels it is terrible that people ignore the information and act recklessly. The CDC study showed that more than 25 percent of HIV/AIDS victims are unaware they are positive. \nKaren Danielson, director of Bloomington Hospital's Positive Link HIV/AIDS Services, said many people are unaware of whether they have AIDS or not. \n"(For) people to know their status is one of the most important parts of the puzzle," she said. \nAnother piece of the puzzle of taming the HIV/AIDS epidemic includes addressing abstinence, or in its absence, protection. Reese said sexual activity requires protection.\n"Anyone who decides to be active needs to use a latex condom," she said, adding that for abstinence, "people need to define what abstinence is." \nInformation about HIV/AIDS has been misconstrued since its beginning, Reese said. \nFirst known as a "homosexual disease," today other aspects of HIV/AIDS are misunderstood. Reese said people think that treatment is readily available and that the disease can be easily tamed. But the treatment is very expensive and unlike chemotherapy or other treatments for more common diseases, AIDS treatment only helps, and does not cure. Danielson said people's perspectives on AIDS are still harmful.\n"People are still in denial," Danielson said. "We can't blame lifestyle. We have to blame behavior."\nAccordingly, as Eric Love, the director of diversity education at IU, explains, the spread of the disease so heavily in the black community is due in some part to all of these reasons.\nLove said due to black socioeconomic status, there are fewer programs that educate blacks about HIV/AIDS and its prevention. Black leaders have tried to take the issue up themselves with events like Black Entertainment Television's recent "Wrap it Up" campaign, and other leaders like Senator Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson addressing the issue in public speeches. However, the recent numbers by the CDC suggest that there is more work to be done.