Aids epidemic in the United States: Should dominicans be concerned?

The richest country in the world is facing challenges at an alarming rate. A new HIV infection is diagnosed every nine minutes, with an estimated 50% of people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. not receiving medical care.

A chief culprit at all levels of society is ignorance. For a small country with limited health resources and a high immigrant population- Dominicans should be concerned.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the Bronx HIV Care Network, I am able to see first hand the importance of raising awareness and education. The Executive Committee is the governing body that provides guidance and leadership to over 300 community-based HIV organizations. It seeks to expand HIV services, defining priorities and input to the governmental planning process.

Hard to believe, the United States does not have a National Aids Strategy that can drive coordinated treatment responses to this epidemic. The new Obama-Biden administration is planning this policy. In fact, during the past 15 years the infection rate has not fallen in the United States. Presently there are over a million people are living with HIV, with 56,000 people being diagnosed every year.

Some brief statistics: African Americans compose 13% of the American population, yet they represent half of all newly diagnosed HIV infections. AIDS is also the leading cause of death in Black women between the ages of 25-34, an alarming fact.

Latinos are rapidly catching up. Sadly, a complicating issue is the cultural taboo that once infected, many shy away from treatment support groups in fear of meeting a compatriot that may write home to friends and families and inform of their predicament. Although there is help for them, some illegals are afraid seek help due to their undocumented status.

Now to our island and neighbor. The prevalence of HIV in Haiti once reached a high of 2.2% of the population-one of the highest in the Caribbean-and is reported to be reducing according to AVERT, an international monitoring organization.

However, Haiti does not have their governmental act together and this is concerning, the country is in disarray.

Now in closing, I read that Dominican authorities are planning to document foreigners with biometric data. So I ask, do these authorities plan to also have a compassionate national policy for infected illegals?

X-rays to rule-out Tuberculosis before migrating to the United States was a requirement. Therefore, is it unreasonable for the Dominican government to do HIV screenings of foreigners and seek international monies to provide compassionate care? We hope so.