July 27th, 2010 at 9:02 pm » Comments (0)

Arizona’s SB1070 and HIV: A potent mix?

On July 29th, the state of Arizona proposes to enact a law which will increase pressure on immigrants in all aspects of their lives.  HIV/AIDS already disproportionately affects Hispanics in the United States as is seen in this week’s VIA Trend.

With the emerging anti-immigrant policies throughout the United States, what ramifications do you envision as they relate to public health?

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Arizona SB1070 y el VIH: ¿Una mezcla potente?

El 29 de Julio, el estado de Arizona intentará a promulgar un ley que aumentará la presión sobre los inmigrantes en todos los aspectos de sus vidas. El VIH/SIDA ya afecta desproporcionadamente a los Hispanos en los EUA tal como fue notado en la Tendencia Clave de VIA.

Con las políticas anti-inmigrantes emergentes en todos los Estados Unidos, qué piensas que serán las ramificaciones en relación a la salud pública?

July 27th, 2010 at 8:48 pm » Comments (0)

July 27th, 2010 at 8:34 pm » Comments (0)

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VIA TREND #2

In 2006, Hispanics represented 15% of the US population, but constitute 17% of the cases of HIV/AIDS.

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En 2006, los Hispanos representaban el 15% de la población en EEUU, sin embargo constituían el 17% de los casos de VIH/SIDA.

Source: CDC, “HIV/AIDS Among Hispanics/Latinos: Factsheet.”

VOICES ✺ VOCES

“Social isolation makes it difficult for Latinos to access traditional prevention education; as a result disproportionate numbers of Latinos are becoming infected with HIV and are in need of access to primary care.”

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“El aislamiento social de la población latina dificulta su acceso a la educación tradicional de prevención.  El resultado de esta realidad es un incremento desproporcionado de Latinos que contraen el VIH y que tienen necesidad del acceso a la atención médica primaria. “

Source: Southern States Manifesto: Update 2008, HIV/AIDS and STDs in the South, The Southern AIDS Coalition, p12

July 15th, 2010 at 5:16 pm » Comments (0)

“Here in the South, and in North Florida in particular, the epidemic is
growing fastest among women of color and is expanding further into rural
communities. There are more cases of HIV/AIDS in the South with less
funding spent on related services than in other regions of the United
States…

…an area of weakness within the plan is the lack of attention to the
urgent services needed in farmworker/immigrant communities that is so
prevalent throughout the southern United States. As health professionals
and service providers, we see this as a call to action…”

Read the full Press Release in ENGLISH by clicking on the icon below:

Read the full Press Release in SPANISH by clicking on the icon below:

July 15th, 2010 at 1:06 pm » Comments (0)

An important point of clarification comes from Jennifer Freeman Smith of Farmworker Justice. The study from which this week’s trend was cited is 7 years old and is the reflection of a small study. Additionally we incorrectly cited the statistic for Farmworker Justice, and it should have been credited to: Fitzgerald, K., Chakaborty, J., Shay, T., Khuder, S., & Duggan, J. (2003). HIV/AIDS Knowledge Among Female Farm Workers in the Midwest. Journal of Immigrant Health, 5 (129-136).

But, please do note that in the Farmworker Justice White Paper “HIV/AIDS and Farmworkers in the US” (Pamela Rao, Kattrina Hancy, Miguel Velez, Jennifer Maria Freeman, Shelley Davis) Farmworker Justice, 2008… it states:

“At present, the seroprevalence rate of HIV/AIDS in farmworker communities is unknown. The vast majority of the epidemiological data on HIV prevalence among farmworkers is based on small, local studies, the majority done more than a decade ago. In 1992, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found a prevalence rate of 5% among 310 farmworkers tested in Immokalee, FL [1]. A few other small studies have reported rates ranging from 0.47% to 13%.” [2, 3, 4, 5].

What seems key to glean are two key points: 1) limited research into the prevalence of HIV within the farmworker community has been conducted, and 2) existing studies of prevalence rates indicate that prevention and testing are needed in farmworker communities.

-VIA Blog Editors

1. National Commission to Prevent Infant Mortality. HIV/AIDS: A Growing Crisis Among Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Families. Washington, DC, Author. 1993.
2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Epidemiological Notes and Reports: HIV Seroprevalence in Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers — North Carolina, 1987. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 37(34):517-519, 1988.
3. Jones JL, et al.: HIV-Related Characteristics of Migrant Workers in Rural South Carolina. Southern Medical Journal 84(9):1088-1090, 1991.
4. Varela-Ramirez A, et al.: HIV infection and risk behavior of Hispanic farm workers at the west Texas-Mexico border. Ethnicity & Disease 15(4):S92-S96, 2005.
5. Castro KG, et al.: Transmission of HIV in Belle-Glade, Florida – Lessons for Other Communities in the United-States. Science 239(4836):193-197, 1988.