World AIDS Day serves as reminder about epidemic

Today is World AIDS Day, internationally recognized to raise awareness about the still prominent AIDS epidemic. Local public health officials, however, worry that on this day, like so many this year, the world will continue to remain apathetic or silent about this deadly disease.

“There’s a feeling among the general public that HIV is not a problem anymore,” said Mindy Mulkey, executive director of Regional AIDS Interfaith Network of Central Missouri.

RAIN will hold a candlelight vigil and remembrance ceremony today at Broadway and Ninth Street. The event will begin at 5 p.m.

Mulkey said the recent Medicaid cuts in Missouri and the focus on rebuilding areas devastated by hurricanes Katrina and Rita have made it increasingly difficult for agencies like RAIN to get the money they need for prevention and treatment efforts.

At RAIN’s third annual Wine and Art Festival on Nov. 17, the agency raised roughly $40,000, compared to the $50,000 it raised last year. Case manager and primary care coordinator Cale Mitchell said the agency’s recent fundraiser made it clear that private donations would be harder to come by this year.

Mitchell said the agency works to fill gaps in public services and provide resources for people living with HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases. He said those gaps have widened as less public money is available through traditional sources such as Medicaid.

“I think a lot of agencies are seeing a decrease in available funding,” Mitchell said. “With so much happening, it’s stretched everyone’s dollars. States have had to make a lot of tough choices.”

Missouri health workers said that they are concerned about the future of funding for HIV/AIDS patients in the state. Funding for HIV/AIDS has remained constant in recent years, and the increased rate of infection has put considerable pressure on funding in real terms, said Betsy Smith, the HIV prevention planner for Columbia/Boone County Health Department. In Missouri there was a 23 percent increase in infections in 2004 from 2003.

“We are worried about the period between 2006 to 2007, and waiting to see the impact that Katrina as well as the cuts in Medicaid will have on our finances,” said Mike Herbert, chief of the bureau for HIV/STDs/Hepatitis at the Missouri Department of Health.

Services that have traditionally aided HIV/AIDs patients, such as drug assistance programs and housing opportunities, may be the first to go, said Bill Monroe, regional counseling and testing director for the Columbia/Boone County Health Department.

“The medication can cost $2,500 to $3,000 a month,” Monroe said. “No one can afford that — unless you’re Magic Johnson.”

In Missouri, 467 new HIV/AIDS cases were reported in 2004, seven in Boone County.

There were 4.9 newly reported AIDS cases per 100,000 Caucasians compared to 33.4 cases per 100,000 African-Americans in 2004, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The death rate for blacks from HIV/AIDs nationwide is seven times that for whites.

“It is something that appears constantly in our data over the recent time period,” said Benjamin Lampoon, a research analyst for the Missouri Department of Health. Smith urges caution in interpreting such statistics since they are self-reported.

In addition to a lack of funding, public health officials also face other challenges such as reaching those who are at high-risk, Monroe said. He explained that the groups at highest risk are black men who have sex with other men unbeknownst to their female partners.

The state has targeted high-risk groups including homosexual black men between the ages of 18 and 39, homosexual white men between the ages of 15 and 60 and heterosexual women of color between the ages of 15 and 39. This also includes people living with HIV and their HIV-free sexual partners.

Health officials maintain that a stigma persists about the disease and its transmission. Mulkey said many of the people she works with are afraid for others to know their status because they fear losing their jobs or housing.