Tom Rucci

PDF: CDC HIV/AIDS Fact Sheet

Dalton, Ga., resident Edgardo, an El Salvador native who immigrated to the United States five years ago, thought his life was over when he was diagnosed with HIV last year.

“When I heard I was HIV positive I felt like my whole life had ended with just that word,” he said in Spanish, “but now I realize it was just a bridge, and life goes on.”

Edgardo, 28, who asked to only be identified by his middle name because he fears being rejected by some in the Hispanic community, is part of the growing number of Hispanics who are being diagnosed with HIV locally and nationwide, local experts say.

Of the rates of diagnoses for adults and adolescents in all racial and ethnic groups in 2005, the highest rate was for blacks, with 68.7 cases per 100,000 people, followed by Hispanics, with 24 cases per 100,000 people, according to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tom Rucci, AIDS outreach coordinator with the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Health Department, said Hispanics account for 2 percent of the total HIV/AIDS cases in the county.

“The number is small but is still alarming given the fact that we need to do more testing, and this population is less likely to be tested, and if positive, less likely to seek treatment,” he said.

In Whitfield County, from 1980 to December 2007, not adjusted for reporting delays, there are 103 AIDS and 41 HIV (non-AIDS) cases, of which Hispanics make 16 percent, according to the Georgia Department of Health.

Nationwide, Hispanics made up 16 percent of all HIV/AIDS cases in 2005, while they were 13 percent of the population, the CDC fact sheet on HIV/AIDS among Hispanics stated.

Mr. Rucci said the number of Hispanics diagnosed with HIV in 2006 was alarming because it is a sign that some did not get needed treatment, or they waited too long to be tested and did not seek care or took too long to get care.

At the national level in 2005 Hispanics accounted for 19 percent of the 40,608 new diagnoses, Mr. Rucci said.

Barriers to prevention

According to local experts and the CDC, HIV/AIDS is a serious threat to the Hispanic and black communities in part because of the challenges of accessing health care, prevention services, HIV treatment and the taboo against the disease.

“Many Hispanics are afraid to be tested, afraid of what will happen if they are positive ... afraid that they will be cut off,” Mr. Rucci said.

He added that Hispanics have an additional concern if they are undocumented because they fear they will be deported if they seek treatment.

But health care is available to everyone regardless of their immigration status, Mr. Rucci said.

“We can provide care and treatment and the counseling that is needed to help maintain a healthier lifestyle. It would be great if we could get more to come to get tested,” he said.

America Gruner, director of community health workers in Dalton, said more people are starting to get tested in the area, particularly men.

“When we first started offering free HIV/AIDS tests three years ago, no one wanted to know or hear anything about it. They were afraid of it because it’s still a taboo,” she said.

Edgardo, who went to Ms. Gruner to get the free test, said that among the Hispanic community there is still a great stigma surrounding HIV/AIDS.

“There are still a lot of people I haven't told because I don’t know how they are going to react,” he said.

For some women there is the factor of traditional gender roles, in which they are expected to be pure and acquiesce to men’s desires combined with sexual silence, which makes them less likely to use protection or have any discussion about it prior to having sex, the CDC reported.

In Hamilton County 33 percent of the HIV cases are women, 11 percentage points greater than the 22 percent overall rate of infection for women, Mr. Rucci said.

Reaching out

The key point to decreasing the high numbers among Hispanics and blacks, Mr. Rucci said, is to build relationships with the community and have better collaboration with churches and local groups.

“We definitely need more education on the disease, but also help to get the word out because there is a large number of people who believe it can’t happen to them,” Mr. Rucci said.

Edgardo said that since he found out he was positive, he has encouraged friends and relatives to get tested.

“A lot of Hispanics in the clinic (where he gets his treatment) cover their faces when they come out, but we shouldn’t be ashamed, we should instead tell people to take care of themselves and get tested,” he said.