AIDS STILL A THREAT TO AMERICANS.

Byline: Gail Wyatt and Russell Bennet

IN recent years, great strides have been made in raising awareness among Americans of how AIDS is devastating Africa. While it is important to address the global impact of the disease, we cannot ignore the growth of the epidemic here at home, especially among particular segments of society.

Minorities, who comprise more than 50 percent of the population in Los Angeles County, are hardest hit by HIV and AIDS. They suffer from greater infection rates and are more likely to die from the disease.

The mistaken beliefs that cocktail drug therapies have cured the disease and that the AIDS crisis is now half a world away have obscured the reality that infections in the United States, especially among minorities, have continued to rise. For too long, we have closed our eyes and allowed the disease to plot its own course through our nation.

Ignoring a problem does not make it disappear. We must re-examine and change our approach to reach the people in this country who are most at risk.

That those hardest hit in the United States are not getting the same attention afforded to those in Africa is due to a lack of awareness among politicians and the media. This was demonstrated at the 2004 vice presidential debates, when neither candidate was able to address the moderator's question about the impact of AIDS in African-American women, for whom it is the leading cause of death among those ages 25 to 34, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The curtain shielding our leaders from the reality of AIDS in this country must be opened, and all of us must take action to reduce the risk of infection.

Tragically, the current infection rates speak volumes about how the battle against AIDS has failed minorities in the United States. In particular, African-Americans and Latinos are much more likely to be infected with HIV than non-Hispanic whites. Although African-Americans make up slightly less than 13 percent of the nation's population, they have accounted for 39 percent of the estimated AIDS cases since the beginning of the epidemic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Men are being hit just as hard as women are, with AIDS also being the leading cause of death for African-American males ages 35 to 44.

Although the rate of AIDS is lower among Hispanics, many of them are becoming infected at a younger age. Thirty percent of Hispanic women and 23 percent of Hispanic men were under 30 when diagnosed, significantly younger than other groups, according to the California Office of AIDS. These grim numbers make it evident that current efforts to stop AIDS are not reaching everyone equally.

In order to slow HIV infection rates, we must change our methods of education and prevention, starting with examining the history and culture of the most affected groups and creating messages and programs that will resonate within those communities.

For example, many African-American women may be hesitant to have frank conversations with their boyfriends or husbands about their sexual history or inquire if they have ever used intravenous drugs. Because of cultural taboos against homosexuality, many African-American and Hispanic men who have sex with other men, known as living ``on the down low,'' may keep it a secret, leaving other partners at risk. We cannot close our eyes to the amount of unprotected sex that occurs in the prison system - much of which is rape. And because African-American and Hispanic men make up a significant percentage of the prison population, they often become infected while they are incarcerated, and unwittingly pass that infection to their sexual partners when they are released.

To stop AIDS in its tracks, we need to give men and women tools that can facilitate open communication with their partners and families.

Today, World AIDS Day, marks a quarter-century of the blight of AIDS in our country. Honest talk about sex in the context of the groups most affected is one way we can begin moving toward more successful prevention methods. We have to make the battle against AIDS on the home front just as important as the one overseas.