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HIV taking heavy toll in Mississippi
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Rate of new AIDS among blacks in state growing, group says
By Valerie Bauman
The Associated Press
Dec 11, 2005
Patsy Johnson has lived with HIV for 14 years. She quit using crack cocaine and has been out of jail for nearly five years.
Despite her painful memories and struggles, one thought makes tears roll down the 41-year-old's face - that of her youngest son.
"It hurts, because I have that baby," she said. "I just want that baby to grow up and to have me.
"I want him to grow up and fend for himself ... I know one day it's going to take over my body, and I won't be able to fight this. But I am strong, and I am here today."
Mississippi ranks No. 6 nationally in the percentage of new AIDS cases reported among blacks, according to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. The District of Columbia heads the list, followed by Maryland, Georgia, South Carolina and Louisiana.
While making up 37 percent of the state's population, blacks account for more than 75 percent of the new AIDS cases reported, according to the United Health Foundation. The state Department of Health reports that number at 69 percent.
Cheryl Hamill, who works for the Delta Region AIDS Education and Training Center in Jackson, said the number of new HIV and AIDS cases reported is not necessarily representative of the population who actually have the virus.
"Minority communities of color are the populations that traditionally use public health as their primary first point of contact for health care versus the tradition of non-minorities that would seek a private provider, something through insurance," Hamill said. "The vast majority of (HIV/AIDS) testing occurs through public health care."
Paul Byers, a deputy state epidemiologist, said 420 blacks were diagnosed with HIV in 2004 compared with 121 whites and 66 other minorities.
Johnson contracted HIV after becoming addicted to crack and working as a prostitute - both things she attributes to the influence of the man she was seeing at the time.
"I think a lot of us, we don't know what it is to be out in the world," Johnson said. "And I think a lot of us black women let ourselves be manipulated by men. So if he's doing drugs, we fall behind him and do whatever it takes to please him."
For 12 years she sold her body and received no treatment for her illness. She was in and out of jail - each time for violating parole from her first incarceration for possession.
When she was released from jail in 2000, she decided to stay off drugs and get onto HIV medication.
"African Americans suffer from most diseases in a higher amount because of socio-economic status - more poor people have diseases than other people - lack of education and information," said Marilyn Moering, executive director of Building Bridges. "I know that it's 2005, but lots of people we see still don't know the basic facts of HIV ... how it's transmitted."
Building Bridges is a Jackson-based HIV/AIDS organization that provides care and service for those infected or affected by the virus.
Debbie Konkle-Parker, an assistant professor with the Mississippi Chapter of Nurses in AIDS Care, said the spread of HIV among blacks can be attributed, in part, to the lack of power that women feel in their sexuality - they are afraid to demand that men use condoms.
"This trend of primarily poor minority individuals - including women - has probably been for the past 10 years," Konkle-Parker said.
Konkle-Parker said her Jackson clinic serves a population that is 87 percent black. Of the approximately 19 new cases of HIV positive individuals she sees each week, about 85 percent are black.
Alonzo Dukes, president and CEO of the Southern AIDS Commission in Greenville, said blacks in the Delta are often in a cycle of poverty that contributes to the spread of the disease.
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