There are several HIV/AIDS observance days throughout the year -- World AIDS Day, which just passed on December 1st, is one of them. But what happens when these special days are over? It's easy to become complacent. That's why Dr. Kevin Fenton, Director of the National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control, is dedicated to keeping the AIDS epidemic foremost in the minds of Americans, especially black Americans, who are disproportionately affected by the disease. Fenton spoke to Black Voices about prevention efforts, outreach in the black community, and what he hopes to see by World AIDS Day 2018.
Why is a day like World AIDS Day important?
World AIDS Day is a time for us to reflect on the epidemic that is one of the greatest public health challenges of our generation -- of our lifetimes. With over 33 million people across the world affected by this disease or infected by this disease, it's a time for us to reflect on the successes that we've had in fighting the epidemic and some of the challenges we have ahead of us. And here at home in the US, it's also time for us to reflect on the more than one million Americans who have HIV and the fact that nearly 1 in 5 of those Americans do not know their HIV status. Although we've made tremendous gains in the past 27 years, there's a lot more work to do.
In the last 10-to-15 years, the focus on the HIV epidemic has really gone overseas, and we've seen just tremendous advances which have been made in the global epidemic. But what we've perhaps not had a persistent focus on is the U.S. domestic epidemic. And the fact that every year there are more than 56,000 Americans who become HIV infected for the first time.This is still a major public health threat to us in the U.S., and we do need to focus globally, but also focus domestically and act domestically as well.
What are some of the ways to bring our focus to the domestic fight against HIV and AIDS?
First of all, it's really identifying this epidemic for the crisis that it is, and we need to respond at that level. People think that even if we're not hearing about HIV, it's maybe not affecting our community and its not important. It is important, and it is a crisis. We need to promote awareness about HIV through education in schools and social marketing campaigns, etc. We also need to encourage communication about HIV and AIDS, whether in family setting or schools. The third thing we can do is test and promote testing. We know that about 40 percent of the U.S. population reports ever having an HIV test and, in any given year, about 12 to 20 percent of Americans will report having an HIV test.
Many have criticized black churches, which are very powerful in the community, for ignoring or downplaying the problem of AIDS among African Americans. How have you engaged black churches?
It's one of the most amazing developments over the last 5 years to see how the black churches really came on board and have become a very strong partner in the HIV response, especially in African-American communities. I'm not saying that all churches are strong partners, and I'm not saying that all churches are bad partners, either. But we have that whole diversity within the faith community. What we've learned as an agency is meeting faith communities where they are and learning what they're comfortable with moving forward on.
And what are some of the key areas where prevention is needed?
There's a lot of work that we have ahead of us. Too many young people are being infected with HIV, especially in the black community. We know that young gay men, but especially minority young gay men-black, Hispanic and Latino – have some of the highest rates of HIV. And we also know that we have to do a better job of reaching each new generation with effective messages on HIV and HIV prevention.
What do you hope or expect to see by World AIDS Day in 2018?
In ten years time, my vision for HIV prevention is, certainly in the United States, a society in which we are far more aware and knowledgable about HIV and how it's prevented. Our young people are leaving schools with the information and knowledge that they need to protect themselves from this disease. In 10 years time, I invision a country in which HIV testing is routine for everybody from 13 to 64 years old, and we've tackled some of the stigma and discrimination towards HIV/AIDS. I really hope to see that we've made tremendous gains in reducing new infections. And finally ensuring that we provide leadership not only in the U.S. but around the world and really tackle this epidemic and the crisis we're in today.
