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1994.09.08 : Minority AIDS Congress

Contact: Rayford Kytle or Pat Norris  (202) 690-6867
Thursday, Sept. 8, 1994


                 HHS TO HOST MINORITY AIDS CONGRESS


     Building bridges and breaking down barriers will be the main
agenda for a national congress on HIV/AIDS in racial and ethnic
communities, hosted by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary
for Health and the U.S. Public Health Service at the Sheraton
Washington Hotel in Washington, D.C., Sept. 15-18.  

     More than 700 community leaders, service providers and
researchers from American Indian and Alaskan Native, Asian and
Pacific Islander, Hispanic/Latino and African-American
communities from across the United States will join with their
federal and state counterparts to review HIV/AIDS policies and
programs and identify future action steps to attack the AIDS
epidemic in their respective communities.  

     Speakers from the federal government include HHS Secretary
Donna E. Shalala, interim national AIDS policy coordinator Patsy
Fleming, Public Health Service director Philip R. Lee, M.D., and
Surgeon General M. Joycelyn Elders, M.D.  

     Secretary Shalala said, "Nineteen federal agencies and
offices have contributed to making this congress an event which
will strengthen their partnership with leaders of communities 
historically underserved and hard hit by the AIDS epidemic."  

     PHS director Lee added, "The meeting provides a unique
opportunity for members of minority communities to learn from
each other and work with federal HIV/AIDS specialists to remove
obstacles which prevent minority members from receiving the
resources and information they need to fight this epidemic." 

     Tom Valverde, president of the Hispanic AIDS Coalition of
Greater Kansas City, and one of the congress' community
co-chairs, said, "This congress shows a true partnership between
community leaders and the government.  We look forward to working
together to develop more effective, culturally sensitive HIV/AIDS
policy solutions."

     Other community co-chairs are Robyn Tirell of Life
Foundation in Honolulu, Hawaii; Rene Whiterabbit of the Indian
Health Board in Minneapolis, Minn.; and Cornelius Baker, director
of public policy for the National Association of People with
AIDS.



                                - 2 -


     The goal of the congress is to identify barriers to
effectively addressing HIV/AIDS issues in minority communities. 
These barriers may be cultural -- such as social mores which
inhibit frank discussion of the issues; structural -- such as
scarcity of minority organizations, adequate funding and
representation on AIDS policy-making bodies; and psychological --
such as denial that HIV/AIDS is a problem in these communities.  

     Participants will develop individual action plans which will
help them build bridges between their communities and government 
and private resources.

     The congress will focus on three areas:

     Prevention: Issues regarding HIV prevention within
racial/ethnic populations, including community planning,
developing school-based programs and targeting incarcerated
individuals, rural migrants, gay men and lesbians.

     Services: Issues related to service delivery, including
those surrounding Ryan White Care legislation, housing, access by
women and children, continuum of care, correctional facilities
and cultural competence.

     Research: Issues regarding access to clinical trials, 
benefits and risks of AZT therapy to reduce maternal transmission
of HIV, alternative/complementary therapies and data
interpretation.

     Although HIV can infect anyone who engages in behavior which
puts them at risk, the incidence of HIV/AIDS in some racial and
ethnic communities is greater than in the general population. 
Four racial/ethnic minority groups -- African-Americans, Native
Americans and Alaskan Natives, Hispanic/Latino and Asian and
Pacific Islanders -- make up about 26 percent of the U.S.
population, but about 50 percent of all reported AIDS cases in
the United States.  They account for 75 percent of reported cases
in U.S. women and 80 percent of reported cases in U.S. children
under the age of 13.  AIDS is now the leading cause of death for
African- Americans aged 25 to 44 and the second leading cause of
death for Hispanic/Latino adults in that age group.

       A national conference in 1989 focused on HIV/AIDS in 
racial and ethnic communities.  The new congress grew out of
recommendations made by representatives from eight subsequent
regional minority AIDS conferences held in 1991 by the PHS Office
of Minority Health.  

     Representatives of racial and ethnic groups were involved in
planning the congress.  Planning committee members were chosen
not only for their expertise and experience in HIV/AIDS, but also
to help ensure representation based on race/ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, HIV status, rural/urban location and
professional background.

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