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Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Rights Here,
Right Now
a report from the
XVIII International AIDS Conference
Vienna, Austria
by the
Black AIDS Institute

Our People
Our Problem
Our Solution
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Rights Here, Right Now is a publication of the Black AIDS Institute, 1833 West Eighth Street,
Los Angeles, California 90057-4257, 213-353-3610, 213-989-0181 fax, ­info@BlackAIDS.org,
www.BlackAIDS.org.

© 2010 Black AIDS Institute. All rights reserved.
The slogan “Our People, Our Problem, Our Solution” is a trademark of the Black AIDS Institute.

Views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the Black AIDS
Institute. Publication of the name or photograph of a person does not indicate the sexual
orientation or HIV status of the person or necessarily constitute an en­dorse­ment of the Institute
or its policies. Some photographs in this publication use professional models.

Rights Here, Right Now is designed for educational purposes only and is not en­gaged in
rendering medical advice or profession­a l services. The information provided through this
publication should not be used for diagnos­ing or treating a health problem or a disease. It is not a
sub­stitute for profes­sional care.

This report was made possible by the generous support of EMD Serono, Inc., Tibotec
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck and Company, Arcus Foundation, Elton John AIDS Foundation,
Ford Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Act Against AIDS, National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases HIV Vaccine Research Education Initiative Program

Ver. 1.2
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Contents
 6   The Year of the Black By Phill Wilson
 8   Finding Our Voices, Claiming Our Power By Hilary Beard
10   AIDS is a Black—and Poor—Disease By George E. Curry | from BlackPressUSA.com
12   Q&A with Kevin Fenton By Lynya Floyd
13   What Will HIV Look Like in 2015? By Lynya Floyd | from Essence.com
14   Topical Medication Makes HIV History By Linda Villarosa
16   Q&A with Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim By Tomika Anderson
18   Prejudice Remains Obstacle in Epidemic By Rod McCullom
19   Poor Likeliest to Get HIV By Ramon Johnson | from About.com
20   Progress Made in Vaccine Development By Ramon Johnson
22   Protesters Open Up World AIDS Conference with Rage By Angela Bronner Helm
24   Black Women and HIV: Don’t Blame the Down Low By Lynya Floyd | from Essence.com
25   Q&A with Dr. Lisa Bowleg By Ayana Byrd
26   It’s Confirmed: Race Still Matters By Phill Wilson
28   Researchers Moving Toward HIV/AIDS Treatments and Cures By Glenn Ellis
30   Obama Officials, Activists Discuss National HIV/AIDS Strategy By Rod McCullom
32   Sheila Johnson Escaping Shadow of BET By George E. Curry | from Seattlemedium.com
33   Q&A with Sheila Johnson By Linda Villarosa
35   Young People Connect, Struggle to Be Heard By Kali Villarosa
36   Top Officials Discuss New AIDS Strategy with Black Journalists By Linda Villarosa
38   Get Prepared for PrEP: Treatment as Prevention Moves Ahead By Angela Bronner Helm
40   Race Still Matters in Fight against HIV/AIDS By Rod McCullom | from TheGrio.com
42   Women and Girls Obtain Their Place at the Table By Ayana Byrd
44   Freshman AIDS Conference Trip Yields Important Lessons By Gary J. Bell
45   Homophobia, Demonization By Ramon Johnson | from About.com
46   Governments Struggle to Cope with ADAP Funding Crisis By Tomika Anderson
48   CDC Says Poverty Is Factor in HIV Among Blacks By George E. Curry
50   Rally Rocks Streets of Vienna By Lynya Floyd
52   New Gel Is Potential Game Changer for Women By Linda Villarosa | from Women’s Media Center
55   Researchers Get Standing Ovation at AIDS Conference By Lynya Floyd | from Essence.com
56   President Obama’s Mixed Record on HIV/AIDS By George E. Curry | from BlackPressUSA.com
58   Global Village Is Vibrant But Still Not Perfect By Angela Bronner Helm
58   Race Still Matters: Statement by Black AIDS Institute
60   Husband, Wife May Alter Course of the HIV Epidemic By Tomika Anderson
62   Alarming Increase Among Younger Black MSM By Rod McCullom
63   HCV Travels Through Blood By Ramon Johnson | from About.com
64   AIDS-Ravaged Africa Now Offers Best Hope for Future By George E. Curry | from Thedefendersonline.com
66   Institute Takes Media Delegation to AIDS Conference By Glenn Ellis | from the Philadelphia Tribune
68   AIDS Conference Ends with Optimism By George E. Curry | from the Philadelphia Inquirer
70   Too Early to Declare Victory, but It’s About Hope By Phill Wilson
73   African/Black Diaspora Roadmap By the African and Black Diaspora Global Network on HIV and AIDS
82   About the Black AIDS Institute

                                                                         Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   3
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Rights Here, Right Now

Editor                           Rod McCullom                      Special Thanks
                                 Reporting for TheGrio.com
Hilary Beard                     and Rod20.com                     Raniyah Abdus-Samad                     African and Black
Editor-in-chief, Black AIDS      Kali Villarosa                    Maggie Abrego                           Diaspora Global Network
Weekly; former editor-in-        Youth journalist, reporting for   Regina Aragon                           on HIV and AIDS
chief, National Medical          the Women’s Media Center          Robert Bailey, II                       Governing Council
Association’s Healthy Living     Linda Villarosa                   Charlie Baran                           Women’s Health in Women’s
magazine and Real Health, a      Former health editor, New         Chris Bland                               Hands
Smart+Strong publication         York Times and managing           Jeffrey S. Crowley, M.P.H.              African Caribbean Council on
                                 editor Essence magazine,          Christine Deshay                          HIV and AIDS in Ontario
Participating                    reporting for the Washigton       Carl W. Dieffenbach, Ph.D.              Interagency Coalition on
Journalists                      Post website TheRoot.com          Kevin Fenton, M.D., Ph.D.                 AIDS and Development
                                                                   Helene D. Gayle, M.D.,                  Black AIDS Institute
Tomika Anderson                                                       M.P.H.,                              African Services Committee
Freelance health writer and
                                 Treatment                         Ambassador Eric Goosby,                 AIDES
television producer reporting
                                 Advocates                            M.D.                                 Light of Africa NRW e.V.
for Heart & Soul                 Gary Bell                         Scott Hamilton                          Caribbean Vulnerable
Angela Bronner Helm              BEBASHI, Philadelphia, Pa.        Kirsten Johnson                           Communities
Senior/managing editor, AOL                                        Sheila Johnson                          African HIV Policy Network
                                 Jeffrey Campbell
Black Voices                                                       Susan Koch
                                 St. Hope Foundation,
Ayana Byrd                                                         Howard Koh, M.P.H., M.D.
                                 Houston, Tex.
Articles and sexual health and                                     Jonathan Mermin, M.D.,
                                 Mark Colomb                          M.P.H.
relationships editor, Glamour    My Brother’s Keeper, Jackson
magazine                                                           Jesse Milan Jr., Esq.
                                 Miss.                             Gregorio Millett
George E. Curry
                                                                   Natasha Moise
Syndicated columnist and
former editor-in-chief Emerge
                                 Photographers                     Deborah Parham-Hopson,
                                                                      Ph.D., M.S.P.H., R.N.
magazine and the National        Alice Tisdale                     Pierre Peyrot
Newspaper Publisher’s            Ann Ragland                       Sid Porter
Association News Service         Notisha Massaquoi                 Brenna Pye
Glenn Ellis                                                        LeNee Richards
Syndicated columnist,            Online                            Andria Reta
National Newspaper               Production                        Giardy Ritz
Publisher’s Association,         Manager                           Gopi Shah
columnist EURWeb.com                                               Mitchell Warren
Lynya Floyd                      Mondella Jones                    Joyce M. Zenon-Peters
Senior editor, health and
relationships at Time Inc.’s,    Print Designer
Essence magazine and
Essence.com                      Alan Bell
Ramon Johnson
Gay lifestyle guide on About.
com, a New York Times
company

                                                                                   Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   5
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
The Year of the Black
By Phill Wilson

In the weeks since the Black
AIDS Institute’s delegation             Phill Wilson
of journalists, activists and
people living with HIV/AIDS
left the International AIDS
Conference (IAC) in Vienna
Austria, I’ve been sorting,
filtering and putting into
perspective our experiences
and memories of the week.
By the end of the conference
we were exhausted, but we
were also extremely inspired.
I don’t think I was alone in
wishing every Black person
in America could have par-
ticipated in this year’s IAC
gathering. Many of the major
findings and stories of this
year’s conference were about
Black people. It was, if you
will “the Year of the Black.”            A few days before the       Blacks living in either urban   and poverty in urban inner
The purpose of this report is        conference opened, President    centers or poor Blacks in the   cities have to ask the ques-
to share with you as many of         Obama released the first U.S.   rural south.                    tion, “Who is poor in inner
the highlights of the Vienna         National HIV/AIDS Strategy.         The first major story of    city America?, and Who gets
conference as the pages of           The strategy explicitly calls   the conference was about        AIDS in inner city Ameri-
this report will allow.              for focusing on the most        race, poverty and AIDS. To      ca?” It’s not an accident that
                                     at-risk populations includ-     make sure that this story was   both groups of people are
A good                               ing Black Americans, men        characterized and contexu-      overwhelmingly Black.
beginning                            who have sex with men and       alized in an accurate way, a         The third and most
                                     people living in the south      delegation of Black journal-    moving experience of this
    Even before the confer-          and north east. From our        ists met with a representa-     conference is the story about
ence began, we learned about         point of view all three of      tive of the CDC to provide      microbicides. This story is
new breakthroughs that               these vulnerable populations    a Black perspective on this     important for women, and
might help in the develop-           are disproportionately Black.   study. In the United States,    it’s particularly important
ment of an HIV/AIDS vac-             The epidemic among gay and      at least, you cannot disen-     for Black women across the
cine. Researchers identified         bisexual men is dispropor-      gage poverty from race. Not     Disapora and in Africa.
three antibodies that when           tionately Black, with young     only are they of a whole        The majority of the women
combined provide protection          Black gay men at particu-       cloth, they are causal, in      impacted by HIV are Black
against 99 percent of strands        larly high risk. Likewise,      fact, while Black people do     women. The fact that this
of the virus, and the primary        the epidemics in the south      not come close to making a      extremely elegant clinical
antibody was found in a              and northeast are primar-       majority of poor people in      trial and presentation were
Black man.                           ily driven by high rates of     America. Studies about race     performed completely by

6   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
South Africans exposes the      ference. In our small way, the    journalists, activists, youth,
lie and the stereotype that     report attempts to chronicle      and people living with HIV/
Africa can’t deliver quality    the role of the CDC (in-          AIDS that lost sleep and t-
science. That was a wonder-     cluding conversations and         cells to bring you this report,
ful experience.                 presentations by Dr. Kevin        I hope you find it interesting,
    The fourth leading story    Fenton and Dr. John Mer-          inspiring, but most impor-
of the conference was PrEP,     man), NIAID, HRSA, and            tant, I hope it helps you be
Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis.       U.S.-based community-             better at doing your work.
PrEP involves using a bio-      based organizations as well       We look forward to receiv-
logical barrier in people who   as looking at what the phar-      ing feedback from you and
are HIV-negative to prevent     maceutical industry is doing.     working with you on future
HIV transmission. PrEP is       There are stories about Black     projects. Until then, please
most likely to be a strategy    leadership from the Honor-        take care of yourself and
employed in populations         able Barbara Lee, Dr. Helene      your blessings.
where there are dispropor-      Gayle (the Chair of the
tionately high rates of HIV     President’s Advisory Council      Yours in the struggle,
infection like Black America,   on HIV/AIDS), Jeff Crowley
the Caribbean and sub-          (director of the White House
Saharan Africa.                 office of National AIDS
    The next time this body     Policy), and philanthropist,      Phill Wilson
gathers will be in Washing-     Sheila Johnson.                   President and CEO
ton, D.C. There’s no way that                                     Black AIDS Institute
conference cannot focus         special thanks
primarily on Black people.
So the road to AIDS2012 in          We want to thank our
Washington D.C. has already     partners in this effort, from
begun.                          the community-based orga-
                                nizations we worked with
importance to                   like BEBASHI, My Brother’s
black america                   Keeper, and the St. Hope
                                Foundation, to corporate
    These are just a few of     partners, Merck, EMD Se-
the stories from the XVIII      rono and Tibotec.
International AIDS Confer-          We are at a crossroads
ence included in this report.   now: a lot of the tools neces-
We’ve attempted to include      sary to end the AIDS epi-
stories that would be of par-   demic are in place. It’s up to
ticular importance to Black     us to pick up those tools and
America from the activities     to use them efficiently, effec-
presented by the African,       tively and compassionately
Black Diaspora Global           to bring about the end of the
Network to the U.S. govern-     AIDS epidemic in our com-
ment’s delegation to the con-   munities. On behalf of the

                                                                                   Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   7
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
Finding Our Voices,
Claiming Our Power
By Hilary Beard

When I was asked to lead             from relationships, families     a friend who attended the         her children—a lineage that
the Black AIDS Institute’s           and communities in devas-        session where the researchers     would, in time, include me.
Black media delegation to            tating numbers—wreaking          had announced their results.      I knew that, if necessary, I
the 2010 International AIDS          havoc upon millions and              “I don’t know,” he replied,   would leverage this heritage.
Conference in Vienna in              costing America dearly, a        “I wanted to ask but was          The question would be asked
July, I assumed that I would         price that it doesn’t acknowl-   chicken shit.”                    in the press conference that
work in the background as            edge it pays.                                                      afternoon.
an editor often does. I would            I wanted to know how         Feeling                               But how does a Black
assemble the team, research,         this microbicide would play,     “No Ways Tired”                   woman pose such an indis-
plan, assign, edit, and coach        not just in Peoria (or Preto-                                      creet query in the presence
writers as they penned their         ria, for that matter), but in        We both knew that lives       of men whom she does not
pieces, and if lucky, I would        Black Philadelphia—Penn-         lay in the balance. If wom-       know and a media that con-
attend a few sessions and            sylvania and Mississippi.        en—and hopefully, men—            sistently exploits her likeness
perhaps even write a little.         Would women use it under         are one day to use such a gel,    and refuses to see beyond
Our journalist team would            real-world conditions, in        their partner cannot detect it    Black women’s body parts?
be out front, researching and        which they may fear not only     nor can it interfere with the     Might asking dishonor me,
reporting on issues impor-           losing love, but jeopardiz-      sexual experience. Someone        my race or my ancestors
tant to Black people world-          ing their economic stability,    needed to inquire what the        whose bravery had forged
wide, particularly Black             placing their children in        gel tasted like, whether feel-    my pathway into that room?
Americans.                           harm’s way, experiencing         ing timid or not. The South       Could my honest question
    But on Day Two the               verbal, emotional or physical    African principal investiga-      be distorted into a shameful,
groundbreaking CAPRISA               abuse, and or experiencing       tors were not faint-hearted       but all-too-common, image:
microbicide research (see            less of such a basic human       and had not backed down           Black woman hyper-sexual-
pages 14, 16, 20, 52 and             pleasure in their (often an-     despite failing on seven          ized? And what would Jesus
55) captured my attention.           guishing) lives?                 previous attempts. The Black      do?
Women the world over                     I, too, have experienced     South African female clini-
struggle to protect them-            such trepidation—in my case      cal trial volunteers hadn’t       Serving
selves from HIV/AIDS, in             worrying that my persistence     chickened out, but rather         the World
part because of unequal              about using condoms might        had risked the well-being of
gender dynamics and demo-            strain a romance, but noth-      their most intimate selves in         During the press confer-
graphics; greater authority          ing more severe than that. I     an effort to end AIDS’ dev-       ence the taste question hung
often rests in men’s hands,          am well educated, provide        astation. My parents hadn’t       in the air—no journalist
increasing women’s infection         well for myself, don’t have      wavered after deciding that       asked the obvious. I sum-
risk. Many African Ameri-            children to worry about and      our family would integrate        moned the courage to pose
can women experience this            have never been abused.          our neighborhood despite          it myself, but a Black woman
reality, as they seek to love,       Such privilege demands           neighbors’ threats to burn        can’t just walk up to a mic
bear children and build              that I advocate for others.      down our home. My great-          and say, “How does the mi-
families in communities              Both the Bible and African       great-grandmother, enslaved       crobicide taste?” Or can she?
decimated by our govern-             proverbs guide me: To whom       in Georgia, had fearlessly        I asked my friend and men-
ment’s “war on drugs” and            much is given, much is           chopped off her own big toe,      tor Linda Villarosa, whose
its consequent criminaliza-          required.                        undercutting her market           pedigree includes Essence
tion of Black males, whose               “What does the micro-        value after hearing that she      magazine and the New York
incarceration wrenches men           bicide taste like?” I asked      would be sold away from           Times, for advice. She sug-

8   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
gested asking the researchers    notepads and pens, a sea of        African television cam-                  than we’ve been before;
to describe the gel’s proper-    (mostly) white faces lined up      eraman told me that my                   we must locate our most
ties. Perfect!                   several rows deep.                 question was brilliant—a                 powerful voice. Black people,
    My turn. “Last question;         Then I witnessed               right-brain question in a left-          in particular, must start
quick question; quick an-        something remarkable:              brained room. Perhaps. Yet               expressing the previously
swer,” the moderator said.       Black women, followed by           I had merely asked what any              unspeakable, communicat-
    As I deep-breathed the       several white men, shoved          woman who might use the                  ing about subjects we’ve
voice in my head recited         their way through the              gel would want to know. The              never discussed before and
the Marianne Williamson          reporters to sample the gel        fact that I needed to pose the           advocating for ourselves, our
line that I’d memorized          for themselves. Stunned            question at all underscored              loved ones and our commu-
years earlier (and often         and now humbled by what            the importance of my pres-               nities. We each must find the
erroneously attributed to        their determination implied,       ence in that room and of our             courage to ask:
Nelson Mandela’s inaugu-         I placed a small blob into         delegation’s vital role at the               m Is this a monogamous
ral address): Your playing       several hands then displayed       conference.                              relationship?
small doesn’t serve the world.   my microbicide-filled palm             Of course, I was not the                 m Do you know your
There’s nothing enlightened      to the cameras.                    only Black journalist who                HIV status?
about shrinking…                                                    brandished a braver voice                    m When can I see your
    “Can you characterize        Brilliant                          that week. Each member of                HIV-test results?
the nature of the gel for me,    or Basic?                          our delegation became pro-                   m Why don’t we use a
please? What does it look                                           gressively powerful. Wheth-              condom?
like? What does it smell             But my ancestors               er refuting mainstream                       m Father, mother, uncle,
like? What’s the touch-feel?     warned me not to sample            media claims that poverty,               auntie, sister, brother, have
How does it taste? Take me       the gel. “Your job is done,”       rather than race, drives the             you spoken explicitly to your
through the five senses,” I      they whispered. I left the         U.S. epidemic, demanding                 son, daughter, friend, loved
said.                            on-camera taste-testing to         the same advance access to               one about the steps they
    Then principal co-inves-     somebody else. With the            experts that mainstream                  must take to avoid becom-
tigator, epidemiologist Dr.      media’s attention elsewhere,       outlets obtain, or represent-            ing infected—and are you
Quarraisha Abdool Karim,         I examined the microbicide         ing underserved people                   engaging in those behaviors
startled me by inviting me to    discreetly: it is clear, odor-     by voicing their interests,              as well?
the dais to see for myself. A    less, the consistency of KY        we asserted ourselves as                     m Leader, what actions
panelist passed the applica-     jelly and has a slightly saline,   analysts and advocates for               are you taking to help end
tor to me and I squirted a       body-like flavor. A woman          Black people throughout the              this epidemic?
dollop of gel into my hand.      could use it without her           Diaspora.                                    If my Vienna experience
When I looked up I found         partner knowing. (It has not           The international AIDS               taught me anything, it taught
myself encircled by TV           yet been tested for men.)          community took note.                     me this: As our community
cameras, digital cameras,            Afterward a white South        People inquired who we                   finds its collective voice, the
                                                                    were and why we had come,                world will treat us with the
                                                 Hilary Beard       considered our perspec-                  respect we deserve. We will
                                                                    tives, honored our concerns,             end this curse upon Black
                                                                    granted late-night interviews            communities. In the process
                                                                    and even admitted being                  our offspring will witness
                                                                    unable to address all of our             our courage, empowering
                                                                    queries because they’d never             them to conquer the plights
                                                                    considered questions like                they will face during their
                                                                    them before. Opened eyes                 lifetimes. At that point
                                                                    and honest dialogues proved              people like me will step from
                                                                    that we’d earned universal               the spotlight and return to
                                                                    respect.                                 the background. But not
                                                                                                             until then.
                                                                    Untying                                      Still adjusting to the
                                                                    Our Tongues                              limelight,

                                                                        Whether overseas or in
                                                                    the United States, publi-
                                                                    cally or in our bedrooms, the
                                                                    AIDS epidemic requires us                Hilary Beard
                                                                    to step beyond our comfort               Editor-in-Chief
                                                                    zones. We must be braver                 Black AIDS Weekly

                                                                                     Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   9
Rights Here, Right Now - Black AIDS Institute XVIII International AIDS Conference Vienna, Austria by
disparities

AIDS is a Black—and Poor—
Disease
CDC Report Demonstrates Link between Poverty and HIV risk,
and a Widespread HIV Epidemic in America’s Inner Cities
By George E. Curry | from BlackPressUSA.com

Phill Wilson, president and          HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis,        overall have disproportion-       Jonathan Mermin, direc-
CEO of the Black AIDS In-            STD and TB Prevention, said       ately high HIV- infection         tor of the CDC’s Division
stitute, has good reasons for        in a statement. “In this coun-    rates, there was no sig-          on HIV/AIDS Prevention,
describing AIDS as a Black           try, HIV clearly strikes at the   nificant racial or ethnic gap     stated, “There is nothing
disease. Although Blacks             economically disadvantaged        among heterosexuals living        biological that has caused
are 12.8 percent of the U.S.         in a devastating way.”            in poor urban neighbor-           African Americans to have
population, they represent 45                                          hoods.                            such a disproportionate rate
percent of all people infected       first time study                      “Within the low income        of HIV infection. It’s the so-
each year with HIV, the                                                urban areas included in the       cial, it’s the economic, it’s the
virus that causes AIDS.                  The CDC findings were         study, individuals living         epidemilogical environment
Black women represent 66             released here at the biennial     below the poverty line were       in which people live.”
percent of all new HIV cases         international AIDS Confer-        at greater risk for HIV than          He added, “There are
each year among women.               ence. The study, conducted        those living above it (2.4 per-   multiple factors associated
A study conducted in five            in 2006 and 2007, included        cent prevalences vs. 1.2 per-     with HIV infection in the
major cities found that 46           more than 9,000 hetero-           cent), though prevalence for      United States.
percent of gay and bisexual          sexual adults aged 18 to 58,      both groups was far higher            One of the main factors
Black men have contracted            about 77 percent of whom          than the national average         is race. In addition, even
HIV, compared to 21 percent          were Black. Specific census       (0.45 percent),” the CDC          among African Americans,
of similar white men, and            tracts in 25 communities          said in a statement. “There       poverty is also a risk factor,
although Black teenagers             with a poverty rate of at least   were no significant differ-       as it is with others.”
are only 15 percent of the           20 percent were selected to       ences in HIV prevalence by            According to the Na-
U.S. teen population, they           be studied. The CDC report        race or ethnicity in these low    tional Poverty Center at the
account for 68 percent of            combined data from census         income urban areas: preva-        University of Michigan, 24.7
all new AIDS cases among             tracts in 23 of the 25 cities,    lence was 2.1 percent among       percent of Blacks lived below
teens.                               including Atlanta, Wash-          Blacks, 2.1 percent among         the poverty line in 2008,
    In what it calls the first       ington, D.C., Newark, St.         Hispanics, and 1.7 percent        compared to 23.2 percent
federal study of its kind, the       Louis, New Orleans, Dallas,       among whites.                     of Hispanics, 8.6 percent of
Centers for Disease Control          Detroit, Philadelphia, Los            “By contrast, the U.S.        non-Hispanic whites and
and Prevention has now               Angeles and Seattle. It did       epidemic overall is char-         11.8 percent of Asians. Pov-
added poverty as another             not provide data on the indi-     acterized by severe racial/       erty was defined in 2007 as
factor—at least for hetero-          vidual cities.                    ethnic disparities: the HIV       an individual with an annual
sexuals living in poor, urban            Although the CDC has          prevalence rates for Blacks is    income of approximately
communities in the United            conducted major studies on        almost 8 times that of whites,    $10,000 or less.
States—likely to increase the        HIV prevalence rates among        and the HIV prevalence rate           “What’s surprising about
risk of becoming infected            gay and bisexual men as           among Hispanics is nearly 3       these results is that if you
with HIV.                            well as drug users, this is the   times that of whites.”            are living in these areas and
    “The study reveals a             first time it has conducted                                         your household income is
powerful link between                a separate study on hetero-       risk factors                      less than $10,000 a year,
poverty and HIV risk, and            sexuals living in poor urban                                        you’re seven times more
a widespread HIV epidemic            communities.                         In an interview with a         likely to have HIV than if
in America’s inner cities,”              Researchers were              group of African American         you’re in these areas and
Dr. Kevin Fenton, director of        surprised to discover that        reporters assembled by the        your household income is
CDC’s National Center for            although African Americans        Black AIDS Institute, Dr.         greater than $50,000 a year,”

10   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
Kevin Fenton

               Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   11
said Mermin, whose depart-
ment supervised the study.
    Phill Wilson of the Black
                                        Q&A with
AIDS Institute looked at                Kevin Fenton
the numbers from another                   The Centers for Disease Control and            and Hispanic, which is equal to if you’re
perspective.                            Prevention released a study of over 9,000         poor and white.
    He said, “The study tells           heterosexual adults living in high-poverty
us that when other racial and           areas of 23 cities nationwide. One of the         Seventy-seven percent of the
ethnic groups face the same             findings: HIV prevalence rates in urban           people in the study were Black and
social determinants of health           poverty areas did not differ significantly by     only four percent were Caucasian.
as Blacks—the social and                race or ethnicity.                                Were you at all concerned about
economic conditions within                 We asked Kevin Fenton, M.D., Ph.D.,            comparing such a small group of
which they live and that im-            director of CDC’s National Center for             Caucasians to such a large group of
pact their well-being—their             HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB            Blacks?
HIV rates rise to similar               Prevention, to give us some insight into              No, because it reflects the reality of
levels as those of Blacks,              what the study means.                             inner city life in the United States. And
even for whites whose rate                                                                statistically we have enough in each cell to
of infection is normally sub-           Bottom line: Is the study saying                  do the comparison.
stantially lower than rates for         that the high rates of HIV in African
both Blacks and Latinos.”               Americans are due to poverty, not                 Are there assumptions about why
    The link between poverty            race?                                             poverty is driving HIV?
and HIV is an intriguing one                No. A better bottom line would be                  We’re working the causal pathways. If
that raises critical questions          that poverty is a factor which is driving         you’re poor, you may have to participate in
about access to health care,            the high rates of HIV that we’re seeing in        transactional sex [selling sex] to survive.
the socio-economic standing             African Americans and other minorities            We know that in poor parts of the country
of sexual partners and the              in our inner cities. We know there are            we not only see high rates of HIV but also
impact one’s environment                individual factors: for example, high rates       high rates of STDs and those are co-factors
has on contracting the virus.           of unsafe sex, injection drug use, having         for HIV. Poor areas also have high rates of
    CDC officials acknowl-              multiple concurrent partners, high STD            injection drug use and other types of risk
edge that additional research           rates. We know there are health system            behaviors. Poverty is also related to qual-
needs to be conducted now               factors, for example, poor access to quality      ity, location and access to health services.
that a direct link has been             services. And then social determinants of         In poor parts of many cities, community
clearly established between             health drive vulnerability to the epidemic,       health centers, quality of private doctors
poverty and HIV.                        including poverty, cultural factors,              are all going to be factored into increasing
    “Why is poverty associat-           racism, discrimination, poor education.           vulnerability to HIV.
ed with HIV infection among             This study confirms that poverty is a
African Americans and even              strong determinant of HIV rate and risk,          I know the results can’t be
more so, perhaps, among                 particularly in the inner cities of the U.S.      generalized to non-urban poverty
white Americans and Latino                                                                areas, but is that something you
Americans?” Mermin asked,               Is the implication that wealth may                might look into later? Other socio-
rhetorically. “That’s some-             protect you from HIV?                             economic strata?
thing we need to look at.”                  Not necessarily. In fact, in the very early       Absolutely. This is one of the things we’re
                                        days of the epidemic, wealth was a risk           committed to looking into at the CDC. We
George E. Curry is a former
                                        factor for HIV because with wealth you            have a very good handle on those individual
Washington correspondent
and New York bureau chief               were able to travel, you were able to move        level determinants I mentioned earlier.
for the Chicago Tribune                 between cities that had high incidence of         We have a less good handle on the social
and was editor-in-chief of              HIV, or you may have had resources to             determinants of health. So, for example:
Emerge magazine.                        participate in risky activities, for example,     How is poor education attainment driving
                                        purchasing sex. In some societies, wealth         the epidemic in the U.S.? How are high rates
                                        may be associated with having multiple            of incarceration driving the epidemic in Af-
                                        concurrent partners. You have more money,         rican Americans. This [poverty] study is one
                                        so you’re more socially desirable.                of a series of studies we’re doing at CDC.
                                            But clearly what this study is saying                                          —Lynya Floyd
                                        specifically in the U.S. context is we can
                                        show that poverty is an equalizer in these        Lynya Floyd is the senior editor cover-
                                        inner city areas. If you’re poor and Black,       ing Health and Relationships at Essence
                                                                                          magazine.
                                        your rate of HIV is equal to if you’re poor

12   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
policy

What Will HIV Look Like
in 2015?
Plans Call for Reduction in New Infections, Decrease in PWAs
Who Don’t Know It, Increase in Speedy Care for Newly Diagnosed
By Lynya Floyd | from Essence.com

What a difference five years      educates and supports HIV+
can make. Or can it? Last         women and their caregivers.          Barbara Lee
week, President Barack                In the past, the govern-
Obama unveiled the U.S.’s         ment has received significant
first National HIV/AIDS           criticism for not putting
Strategy, which plans to sig-     forth a plan to combat a dis-
nificantly lessen the impact      ease epidemic that infects 1.1
of the epidemic in America        million Americans. “But this
by 2015. And they’re not          is the first win in a series of
vague about what success          challenges we have before us.
would look like when it           There’s a real opportunity for
comes to a disease that’s the     us to expand and see things
number one killer of Black        happen in a way they haven’t
women 25 to 34.                   before,” she added.
     In just five years time,
the strategy plans to: reduce     creating
the annual number of new          accountability
HIV infections by 25 percent                                         Leadership Commission on                 istration. “If we are negative
from 56,300 to 42,225.                The White House was            AIDS (www.nblca.org). “We                we can protect ourselves by
     Another goal: Decrease       clear that this isn’t just a       must go into areas where we              practicing safe sex. We can
the number of people living       federal government initia-         find larger segments of Black            be the example for our sons,
with HIV who don’t know           tive. It’s going to take efforts   women such as our sorori-                daughters, nieces and neph-
it from 21 percent to 10          from local governments and         ties, our civic organizations,           ews. We can talk to them so
percent.                          communities. And, let’s be         the National Coalition of 100            they know the things they
     A third: Increase the pro-   honest, you. What can you          Black Women, The Links.                  can do to stay negative.”
portion of newly-diagnosed        personally do to make the          They have conferences every
patients linked to clinical       five-year-goal a reality?          year. It’s up to us to get the           Lynya Floyd is the senior
                                                                                                              editor covering Health and
care within three months              “Demand that your con-         information out there. En-
                                                                                                              Relationships at Essence
of their diagnosis from 65        gressmenbers hold up this          courage people to get tested             magazine.
percent to 85 percent. And        strategy,” suggests congresss-     and be involved on many
that’s not even half of all the   woman Barbara Lee (D-CA)           levels.”
goals that have been set.         who has attended the last              “We Black women are
     At the 2010 International    six international HIV/AIDS         often the central figure in
AIDS Conference in Vienna,        Conference, including this         our families. We can set
several key leaders in the        one in Vienna. “Hold them          the example by getting
HIV/AIDS community gath-          accountable at the ballot          tested and knowing our HIV
ered to discuss the national      box.”                              status,” suggests Deborah
strategy. “This is a bit of a         “We need to take ad-           Parham-Hopson, Ph.D.,
poker game and the feds           vantage of opportunities to        R.N., associate administra-
have anted up,” noted Dawn        educate and inform Black           tor for HIV/AIDS in the U.S.
Averitt Bridge, founder of        women,” suggests C. Vir-           Department of Health and
The Well Project, a not-for-      ginia Fields, President and        Human Services’ Health Re-
profit corporation which          CEO of the National Black          sources and Services Admin-

                                                                                     Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   13
women

Topical Medication Makes
HIV History
Breakthrough Microbicide Research Paves Way for
Female-Controlled HIV Protection
By Linda Villarosa

In a groundbreaking study,           few effective interventions        S. Abdool Karim, director            Dr. Quarraisha Abdool
a gel made using an anti-            targeting women of color.          of the Centre for the AIDS       Karim explains that the
retroviral drug was found            Ideally it will stem the tide of   Programme of Research in         research grew out of frus-
to be effective in reducing a        increased infections.”             South Africa (CAPRISA),          tration at not being able to
woman’s risk of becoming                                                located in Durban. He and        offer protection to women
infected with HIV. This is           A major coup                       his wife spoke to a small del-   who would come into clinics
the first time in history that                                          egation of Black journalists     where she worked in South
this kind of topical medica-             The study of 889 unin-         who had traveled to Vienna.      Africa. “When they asked
tion, known as a microbi-            fected Black women aged            The two researchers of color     us what can we do to protect
cide, has worked, despite            18 to 40 in rural and urban        provided this exclusive ac-      ourselves, we had nothing to
many earlier trials. The             KwaZulu-Natal, South               cess to assure that African      offer them,” she said. “Absti-
research broke yesterday             Africa, found that the gel         Americans got the full story     nence? They were married or
at the International AIDS            containing the HIV drug te-        the night before the couple      in a stable relationships—no.
Conference in Vienna and             nofovir (currently prescribed      presented their results to       Behavior change? They were
is widely believed to be the         in pill form under the trade       the full conference. When        faithful, but not sure about
biggest news that will come          name Viread) cut infections        the scientists unveiled their    their partners’ faithfulness.
out of the 6-day event.              by 39 percent. Among the           findings, thousands listened.    Condoms? Men don’t want
Though the results will              women who used it con-             Even the overflow room was       to wear condoms, and at the
need to be confirmed and a           sistently and correctly, the       full, as participants crowded    time there was no female
product won’t hit the market         results were even better: 54       around screens in the hall,      condom.
for at least a few years, this       percent effectiveness. Either      applauding as Drs. Abdool            “So today, although we
news marks a major stride            way you look at it, in the         Karim spoke.                     don’t have the microbicide,”
for women around the world,          science world these numbers                                         she continued, “the results
particularly in Africa and in        signal a major coup.               hope for women                   signal hope for women that
African American com-                    The researchers also                                            they will have something
munities. It will finally offer      noted that genital herpes              This kind of break-          that is 39 percent more effec-
a female-controlled way for          risk dropped by 51 per-            through is urgently needed.      tive than nothing.”
women to protect themselves          cent, which was a surprise.        In sub-Saharan Africa,
in the sexual arena, where           Actually, said epidemiologist      where the epidemic is most       a long time
men, too often, call all the         Salim S. Abdool Karim, Ph.         dramatic and deadly, 22.4        coming
shots.                               D., who with his wife, Quar-       million are living with HIV
    “This becomes a self             raisha, also an epidemiolo-        and every year millions              In the United States, the
empowerment resource                 gist, led the study team, the      more become newly infected.      disease continues to ravage
for Black women, who are             results were a surprise. Seven     Women account for almost         African Americans. A num-
disproportionately impacted          of their previous trials over      two-thirds of those living       ber of communities have
among all women with                 many years, he explained,          with HIV in the region, and      rates of infection as high or
HIV,” says C. Virginia Fields,       had failed.                        young women, often poor          higher than in some African
president and CEO of the                 “When we sat down at           and powerless, bear the          countries. Black men and
National Black Leadership            the table to finally see the re-   brunt of the epidemic. South     women represent only 13
Commission on AIDS. “This            sults, it hit us—this works—       Africa, where the study took     percent of the population,
would provide a much-need-           and we were stunned. In fact,      place, has more people living    but account for almost 50
ed tool in our arsenal against       we didn’t say anything for a       with HIV than any country        percent of people living with
HIV, given that there are so         full minute,” said Dr. Salim       in the world.                    HIV and just about half of

14   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   Black AIDS Institute
Quarraisha and Salim Abdool Karim

Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   15
Q&A with
                                        Salim and Quarraisha Abdool Karim
                                           The Black AIDS Institute conducted an         change in the face of the epidemic [in the
                                        exclusive interview with the scientists at the   U.S.], where women feature much more
                                        International AIDS Conference to discuss         than they did about a decade ago.
                                        their exciting new findings and to find out         Salim: We all recognize and understand
                                        what the results mean for Black women            the importance of women—in particular,
                                        worldwide.                                       young women—bearing the brunt of the
                                                                                         HIV epidemic in Africa. Tenofovir gel
                                        Why is this new gel so significant?              potentially adds a new approach to HIV
                                           Salim: Once confirmed and                     prevention, as the first that can be used and
                                        implemented, tenofovir gel has the               controlled by women. It can help empower
                                        potential to alter the course of the HIV         women and help them take control of their
                                        epidemic. By our estimates, we could             bodies to help protect against their risks of
                                        prevent 1.3 million new HIV infections and       HIV infection.
                                        more than 800,000 deaths over the next 20
                                        years in South Africa alone.                     Who participated in the study?
                                                                                             Salim: All the women are Black.
                                        How long did it take for you to                  We recruited from two clinics in
                                        create it?                                       predominantly Zulu-speaking communities
                                            Salim: It took eight trials. [When we        in rural and urban areas near Durban.
                                        finally saw our results,] there was a bit of         Quarraisha: The age range we were
                                        disbelief because we’d been battered by          screening was 18 to 40 years. The mean
                                        repeated studies that had just not shown         age was 23.2 years old. The majority of the
                                        anything. It’s been a hard road. You have        women over 25 were already infected by
                                        to have a certain level of doggedness to stay    HIV.
                                        in a field where you take knocks every time
                                        you do a study and it doesn’t work. You          Is it safe to use?
                                        begin to question the wisdom of why you’re           Salim: Our findings show no substantial
                                        even doing this.                                 safety concerns, although there have been
                                                                                         some reports of minor diarrhea. There is
                                         How effective is the gel?                       [virtually] no tenofovir resistance and we
                                            Salim: Our study shows a 39 percent          found it is safe for Hepatitis-B infected
                                        protection against HIV overall and 50            women. The 51 babies born during the
                                        percent protection from HIV after one            study had no congenital abnormalities.
                                        year of tenofovir gel use. In women with
                                        a high adherence, it shows 54 percent            What’s next in this process, and
                                        effectiveness. And it also shows a 51 percent    how long do you think it will take
                                        reduction in HSV-2, otherwise known as           for the gel to come to market?
                                        genital herpes.                                      Salim: Additional studies are urgently
                                            Quarraisha: One in five sexually active      needed to confirm and indeed to extend
                                        people globally have HSV-2, and if you have      the findings of this study for safety and
                                        HSV-2 you have double the risk of getting        effectiveness, so this study is the first step.
                                        HIV.                                             But I would be disappointed if it were not
                                                                                         available to women three years from now.
                                        What do your findings mean for                                             ­—Tomika Anderson
                                        Black women throughout Africa and
                                        the United States?                               Tomika Anderson is a freelance writer
                                            Quarraisha: We used a slide [in our          based in Brooklyn, New York. Her work has
                                                                                         appeared in Essence, POZ, Real Health and
                                        presentation] that shows the distribution        Ebony magazines, among others.
                                        of HIV infection in the U.S. in 1985, and
                                        then in 2006. It shows how heterosexual
                                        transmission has increased from 3 percent
                                        to 31 percent [of infections among Black
                                        American women]. So we’ve seen a big

16   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
new infections. Sixty-four       ton, where the HIV rate is       Deserve. “We must continue                   “In the scientific commu-
percent of all women living      highest in America.              to recommend condoms for                 nity, we need to think about
with HIV/AIDS are Black              “This is a major break-      protection against HIV.                  what it is going to take for
and the diagnosis rate is 19     through in addressing an              “I think this will be most          all of us to work together to
times higher than it is for      unmet need for women—a           useful for married women                 make this a reality,” he said.
white women. A government        female-controlled HIV and        who feel that they can’t use a           “I would be disappointed
study released in March          STD prevention method.           condom, but might be suspi-              if we were not able to make
found that 50 percent of         If this vaginal gel proves       cious and want that bit of               a microbicide tenofovir gel
Black women have genital         to be safe, available and af-    protection without demand-               available in three years.”
herpes.                          fordable, we may finally be      ing condom use,” Dr. Hutch-                  In the meantime, in
    The vast majority of         closer to shifting the power     erson added. “However, I                 Vienna, conference attendees
African American women           dynamics that have fueled        would personally demand                  are buzzing with the news,
contract both herpes and         the HIV epidemic and, more       the condom if I thought my               scientists and advocates
HIV during heterosexual          importantly, closer to saving    husband was cheating.”                   alike.
sex, most often from men         women’s lives.”                       It’s important to re-                   “The microbicide trial
they are married to or at            Participants in the          member that most Black                   results are fantastic. Women
least seriously involved         study were sexually active       women in the U.S. with                   deserve a win,” says Ebony, a
with. This point strikes at      and applied the gel both 12      HIV contracted it from men               young HIV-positive African
the heart of why a woman-        hours before and 12 hours        who didn’t know they were                American woman living in
controlled form of protection    after sexual relations. It is    infected with the virus. One             Amsterdam and attending
is so important.                 inserted into the vagina         in five Americans aren’t                 the conference as an activist.
    “This lets women take        using a plastic applicator.      aware of their HIV status,               “A microbicide gives women
control of their own sexual      Half of the women used           and Blacks are believed to be            choice and control; however,
health, instead of depending     a product that contained         less likely to know. A woman             the work can’t end there. We
on husbands and boyfriends       the drug, while the other        who has no idea her partner              still need the female con-
to protect them,” says Van-      half received a placebo gel      is positive wouldn’t have                dom and male condoms to
essa Johnson, deputy execu-      with no medication added.        reason to use the gel.                   prevent unwanted pregnan-
tive director of the National    Sixty of the 444 women who            Though the study                    cies and other STIs and a
Association of People with       used the placebo contracted      pointed to the gel’s safety,             non-antiviral microbicide
AIDS.                            HIV, compared to 38 of the       it’s best to keep expecta-               that can meet the needs of
    “It also potentially gives   445 women who used the           tions in check until more is             women living with HIV.”
women living with HIV/           gel containing tenofovir         known, urges Gail E. Wyatt,
AIDS a valuable means of         became infected. The area        Ph.D., a UCLA professor of               Linda Villarosa directs the
not transmitting their HIV       where the study participants     psychiatry and biobehav-                 journalism program at City
                                                                                                           College in New York. She
to others,” continues Ms.        come from is considered the      ioral sciences and associate             has covered the Interna-
Johnson, who contracted          “epicenter of South Africa’s     director of the UCLA AIDS                tional AIDS Conference five
HIV from a former boy-           explosive HIV epidemic,”         Institute. “If confirmed, the            times.
friend and has been living       where women engage in            microbicide has potential to
with HIV for 20 years. “We       infrequent but very high-risk    save women’s lives, but the
have high hopes.” Experts        sex with migrant men.            research needs to be careful-
aren’t sure whether this                                          ly read and understood,” said
product protects against         keeping                          Dr. Wyatt, also author with
either female to male or anal    expectations                     her husband of the book No
transmission of HIV. This        in check                         More Clueless Sex. “The ef-
study didn’t look at either.                                      ficacy of the trial is promis-
    It’s a long time com-            Despite the promising re-    ing, but the study also needs
ing, said Eleanor Hinton         sults, experts advise women      to be replicated in America
Hoytt, president and CEO of      to celebrate, but cautiously.    before passing judgment.”
the Black Women’s Health         “This is great news, but it is        Dr. Abdool Karim says
Imperative. “Since the mid-      not 100 percent effective,”      he’ll also feel more confident
1990’s when the promise of       said Dr. Hilda Hutcher-          once the results are repeated.
microbicides was first intro-    son, a clinical professor        Another project called the
duced, we have watched HIV       of obstetrics and gynecol-       VOICE study is currently
infection rates skyrocket        ogy at Columbia University       looking at 5,000 African
among women worldwide,”          and author of a number of        women, comparing a gel
said Ms. Hinton Hoytt,           books, including Pleasure:       compound with HIV medi-
whose nonprofit organiza-        A Woman’s Guide to Getting       cation in pill form. Findings
tion is located in Washing-      the Sex You Want, Need and       are expected in 2013.

                                                                                  Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   17
Stigma

Prejudice Remains Obstacle
in Epidemic
Global Health Leaders Say Criminalization Exacerbates HIV
Epidemic Among Black Gay, Bisexual, Other MSM
By Rod McCullom

From pre-conference events           Gustave Nana, executive di-       A Runaway                       involved in the violence,”
to the massive human rights          rector of the Johannesburg,       Epidemic                        he said, referring to a
march through downtown               South Africa-based African                                        now-infamous incident of
Vienna, world leaders, public        Men for Sexual Health and             “The stigma, discrimina-    a 2,000-strong mob sur-
health experts and HIV               Rights (ASMSHer). The West        tory laws and criminaliza-      rounding several gay men
activists honed in with laser-       African laws vary in extrem-      tion of HIV transmission        and stoning them. The police
like precision on a com-             ity—just “exposing a person       encourage the spread of this    were called to the scene and
mon message at The XVIII             to HIV, regardless of if the      disease,” adds Nana. “Why       the officers also struck the
International AIDS Confer-           virus is transmitted, is a        should someone seeking          young men.
ence in Vienna : The ongoing         crime in Benin, and Tanza-        testing or medical advice           Carr sighs. “With Jamai-
persecution and criminal-            nian law carries a possible       come forward if you could be    can MSM infection rates at
ization of gay, bisexual and         sentence of life in prison for    arrested? There is no incen-    32 or 33 percent, it became
other men who have sex with          intentional transmission,”        tive.”                          obvious that you couldn’t do
men—MSM, in public health            reports Medical News Today.           The fear of “coming out,”   effective HIV work in this
shorthand—is undermining             While the overall life for        pop culture which celebrates    context.”
efforts to control the global        Black MSM may be better           homophobia and churches             Although a state spon-
HIV/AIDS pandemic.                   in North America, there           and churchgoers that            sored, religious–based
Chief among the obstacles:           are drawbacks. The United         demonize gay Black men          terror campaign has targeted
More than 80 nations have            States and Canada lead the        compound the problem for        African MSM from Algeria
laws that still criminal-            world when it comes to pros-      Black MSM in America, the       to Zimbabwe, there are some
ize same sex behavior. In            ecuting people who infect         Caribbean and Africa.           positive developments to
some of these countries,             or expose others to HIV, a            “This is the context in     report from AIDS 2010.
conviction can even result           surprising new study reveals.     which you have a runaway,           “We now have 14 coun-
in the death penalty, reports        Black men have been dispro-       dangerous HIV epidemic in       tries out of 54 that include
UNAIDS.                              portionately targeted with        Jamaica,” adds Dr. Robert       men who have sex with
                                     these prosecutions. A Black,      Carr, the co-chair of the       men in their national HIV
Pronounced                           gay, HIV-positive Michigan        International Council of        strategic plans,” AMSHer’s
Across Africa                        man was recently charged          AIDS Service Organizations      Nana said. “It doesn’t mean
Diaspora                             as a bioterrorist for allegedly   (ICASO). “There is a clear      the services will be delivered
                                     biting a neighbor’s lip during    link between religious con-     to those populations, but it is
    Further exacerbating the         a scuffle, Black AIDS Weekly      demnation, criminalization,     an acknowledgment. That’s a
problem, according to a re-          reported in June.                 stigma and HIV infections.      first step.”
port by Planned Parenthood,              “The prosecutions are         We see this all the time in         “Kenya was the first
“58 countries have laws that         arbitrary,” said Nana, in         the Caribbean.”                 African nation to include
criminalize HIV or use               an interview after a press                                        MSM in their national HIV
existing laws to prosecute           conference organized by           Condemnation =                  strategy,” Nairobi-based
people for transmitting the          The Global Forum on MSM           Death                           peer educator Job Akuno
virus. Another 33 countries          & HIV. The day before the                                         told Black AIDS Weekly.
are considering similar              conference officially opened,        Carr adds: “Politicians      Akuno is a counselor with
legislation.”                        the Global Forum held a           and church leaders endorse      the Nairobi-based SHAP,
    The trend is “even more          24-hour event to address the      homophobic violence. Police     Scaling Up HIV and AIDS
pronounced” across Africa            soaring global rates of MSM       refuse to protect MSM or        Prevention, partially funded
and the Diaspora, said Joel          seroconversions.                  are complicit or directly       by PEPFAR, the President’s

18   Rights Here, Right Now   2010 Black AIDS Institute
disparities

                                 Poor Likeliest
                                 to Get HIV
                                 Blacks, Gays Likeliest
                                 to Be Poor
                                 By Ramon Johnson | from About.com

Emergency Plan for AIDS          Since the HIV epidemic be-              tute at UCLA, poverty rates
Relief. “That was in 2006.       gan in 1983, many have been             for LGBT adults are as high
But...it seems like we are       eager to label the HIV/AIDS             or higher than rates for het-
rolling back on some of the      epidemic by who’s most af-              erosexual adults. The think
gains that we made.”             fected, but the fact remains            tank found that 24 percent of
    “Kenya is starting to look   that HIV is a universal                 lesbians and bisexual women
like one of the countries that   problem that has devastating            are poor compared to 15 per-
we should look up to,” Nana      effects on all communities.             cent of gay men, strikingly
adds. “The HIV movement is       What’s of particular concern            high numbers given the gay
more open to include MSM.        are the social-economic                 wealth misconception.
And there is a strong MSM        factors that make some com-
movement in Kenya, too. It       munities more vulnerable to             Ramon Johnson is a new
is one of the few countries      HIV infection than others.              media journalist and the gay
                                                                         lifestyle guide at About.com.
in Africa where a MSM orga-          The Centers for Disease             He was named GLBT Person
nization was able to place an    Control released a poverty              of the Year by GayAgenda in
ad in the newspaper for the      study at the XVIII Interna-             2008. About.com was se-
International Day Against        tional AIDS Conference ti-              lected as ‘Best Gay Lifestyle
                                                                         Blog’ by BestGayBlogs.com.
Homophobia on May 17.”           tled “Communities in Crisis:
    Akuno says the HIV           Is There a Generalized HIV
Prevention and Control Act       Epidemic in Impoverished
criminalizes deliberate HIV      Urban Areas of the United
transmission. “The sentences     States?” that examines the
are up to 10 years. No one       impact of poverty on HIV
has been prosecuted, but         infection rates. What they
now there is talk to make the    found is that in poorer com-
law harsher. If you criminal-    munities, incidence rates
ize HIV transmission or only     among whites and Hispanics
target MSM, that will further    are just as high as among
stigmatize the disease and       Blacks living in the same
drive many people into           community. Infection rates
not wanting to know their        among females and males
results.”                        also matched.
    Job Akuno shrugs. “What          This is the first time in
can you do but hope for the      the U.S. that HIV is being
best?”                           looked at through the lens
                                 of poverty. According to the
Rod McCullom, a writer and       numbers, poorer people are
television news producer,        more likely to be infected
blogs on Black gay, lesbian,
bisexual and transgender         with HIV. Previous studies
news and pop culture at          say Blacks are more likely to
rod20.com.                       be poor. And, according to
                                 the 2009 LGBT Poverty Re-
                                 port by The Williams Insti-

                                                Black AIDS Institute   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   19
science

Progress Made in
Vaccine Development
Blacks Needed in Clinical Trials but Is Risk in Vaccine Studies
False Positive Test Results?
By Ramon Johnson

Last week, U.S. government                                                                           and Infectious Diseases at
scientists announced their                                                                           the National Institutes of
discovery of three antibod-                                                                          Health. “If we’re ever going
ies in a man’s cells, includ-                                                                        to get a cure for HIV,” Dr.
ing one that neutralizes                                                                             Fauci says, “we’re going to
91 percent of HIV strains.                                                                           have to have a patient whose
At the age of 60, this man,                                                                          immune function has some
known in scientific circles as                                                                       degree of integrity.” Donor
Donor 45, became one of the                                                                          45’s does.
most important participants
in HIV research. Donor 45                                                                            tricking
is Black, gay and has been                                                                           the body
living with HIV for 20 years.                                                                        and the test
What makes him special in
the field of HIV is not his                                                                              But the contributions
gender or race or sexual ori-                                                                        of Donor 45 and other
entation or age. He has a rare                                                                       clinical-trial participants
ability to produce antibodies                                                                        don’t come without risk.
that block HIV from invad-                                                                           A study presented at the
ing his cells.                                                                                       XVIII International AIDS
    As a clinical trial par-                                                                         Conference by Lindsey R.
ticipant, Donor 45’s identity                                                                        Baden, M.D., of Brigham
remains a mystery and the                                                                            and Women’s Hospital and
antibodies that he produces                                                                          Harvard Medical School
are under wraps. Most HIV-                                                                           in Boston, found that the
positive people like Donor                                                                           test results of nearly half
45 are what scientists call             Donor 45                                                     of the trial volunteers she
“elite controllers.” These men                                                                       surveyed yielded false-
and women, also known as                                                                             positive results. This means
“long-term survivors” or             in this group.                  is unnecessary. Donor 45        that many trial participants
“non-progressors,” naturally             Scientists hope to bet-     is of particular interest to    who subsequently got
maintain viral loads, the            ter understand why elite        vaccine researchers because,    screened for HIV tested
amount of HIV virus present          controllers’ bodies produce     unlike his fellow elites, his   HIV-positive—only to
in their blood, at levels so         antibodies that other HIV-      viral load remains high         discover later that their
low that the virus can’t be          infected people’s bodies        whereas their viral load is     HIV-positive results were
detected. Somehow their              do not. Uncovering this         typically low. Yet, even with   wrong; they were in fact
bodies stop HIV from repli-          mystery offers another step     a high viral load Donor 45’s    HIV-negative. Besides the
cating. They remain healthy          toward what researchers call    immune system is stable,        traumatic emotional impact
with undetectable loads for          a “functional cure,” defined    a fact which offers a build-    an HIV diagnosis can
long periods of time without         as a life free from symptoms,   ing block to developing an      have, this vaccine-induced
taking prescription drugs.           where the disease does not      HIV vaccine, says Anthony       seropositivity/reactivity
About 1 to 4 percent of HIV-         progress and prolonged          Fauci, M.D., director of the    may cause the person who
infected people are said to be       antiretroviral treatment        National Institute of Allergy   receives an HIV-positive

20   Rights Here, Right Now   2010   Black AIDS Institute
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