NPR: Washington's Health Scare

Washington's Health Scare

AP Photo

Was there a theme to today's program? Not really. How about ... trying to make it through the best we can.

Our lead story: the numbers on HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C. are eye-popping. Read (pdf) through the recent report it for yourself.

If you DON'T live in D.C., what does this mean to you? Well, I'm still trying to sort that out. I think it shows the way this disease is progressing through the general population, and, especially, coursing through the African American community. The numbers for Latinos in the District are also important to consider -- nearly 5 percent of those living with HIV/AIDS in the district are Latino.

HIV/AIDS can truly be considered an epidemic in the District -- D.C. had the highest AIDS case rate nationally -- a whopping 128.4 cases per 100,000 population, compared with 14.0 cases per 100,000 nationally ... but it's also true that the rate for newly reported cases is higher than rates in Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Detroit, and Chicago. So, is there something about D.C.? Or, is there something broader at work? Our guests, Dr. Shannon Hader, MD, MPH, senior deputy director of Washington's HIV/AIDS Administration, and Rae Lewis Thornton, a longtime AIDS survivor and activist who lives in Chicago, helped us sort through it. If you are a regular reader of Essence magazine, you will have surely read Thornton's story at some point.

If you have insights on how the message about HIV/AIDS can be more effectively communicated, please don't keep it to yourself. We're going to go back to our panel of college students to get their take. We visited with them the week before last about a Pew poll on racial attitudes in the country, and we found their ideas so interesting we decided to have them back.

We also want to let you know about two upcoming Mocha Moms segments...

so you can get in on the conversation if you are interested. We received a strong response to the visit with our fertility specialist. So if you have more questions, please send them our way and we will ask as many as we can. We are also interested in a subject first raised by a listener. Let's say you are very involved with a child who is not yours -- you're a cousin, an aunt, an uncle. Let's say you have opinions about the way the parents are raising the child ... Do you step in? Say anything? Or mind your own beeswax? And, let's say the shoe is on the other foot -- you are a parent and your siblings, parents, etc. have opinions about YOUR parenting. What do you do? You know they mean well, but are they working your nerves? We thought, as the holidays approach and we are all (ahem) enjoying family time more, that this might be a good time to ask these sensitive questions.

So, let us know. Send us your sticky situations ... and we'll do our best to get you some answers (or, at least, tell you you're not alone!).

Tomorrow, another special musical treat. Here's a hint: lots of style, lots of spirit, LOTS on inspiration. If Only You Knew...

Michel Martin

5:06 PM ET | 11-27-2007 | permalink

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5:06 PM ET | 11-27-2007 | permalink

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Please ask the guest OBGYN to discuss fibroids and their effect on fertility. I'm 34 with multiple fibroids and do not plan to have a hysterectomy. Im not sure if I want kids, but I feel like its now or never. Also, do thyroid problems affect fertility? Yet another problem Ive been diagnosed with.

Sent by Anonymous | 12:47 PM ET | 11-28-2007

I am deeply saddened that anyone should suffer from HIV or AIDS. However the statistics that state that African Americans and especially African American Women are more susceptiple to a primarily sexually transmitted disease goes against every sexual pattern in the United States. White women have as much or more sexual encounters then their Black female counterparts. Any check of porn sites, girls gone wild and the conversations with Black women and men. Since it is reported that HIV and AIDs is transferred primarily through sexual contact. Then Black men who have the highest rates of unprotected sex should have the highest rate of STDs and HIV. That would mean that Black athletes and Entertainers who have high numbers of children without marriage, ie Puffy, Sean Kemp and other athletes who have reported to have 5 plus children from different mothers should have HIV in higher numbers however not a single Athlete has died of AIDs or HIV. Actually very few Athletes have died other than from Gunshots or heart related problems at all. So the implications that Black women are having some form of unusual sex as compared to white women needs to be documented, because my unofficial research does not bear this out. Of course I am searching for people who have lost loved one to AIDs
I am currently researching this subject and am willing to speak on it.

Sent by Imani Afryka | 2:50 PM ET | 11-28-2007

I wish someone spoke about the disturbing fact that the USA is "playing games" with people's lives.

President Bush's program "Abstinence Only", which has proven to not be successful, where he will not give aid to countries that allow the teaching of "safe sex" and only give aid to countries that teach the well-known failed "Abstinence Only" program.

I often wonder why this information does not reach alot of media outlets.

Corey Mondello
Boston, Massachusetts
cpmondello@yahoo.com
www.CoreyMondello.com
11-29-07

Sent by Corey Mondello | 9:40 AM ET | 11-29-2007

Yes, the number of HIV/AIDS cases is staggering, especially when we really deal with the numbers of thos affected on the African continent. If we truly research the correlation in those cases, our government, and the cases here at home, I'm sure the findings would floor even the most conservative of us.

Nonetheless, the numbers are there and HIV is a reality, one that none of us will be spared from if awareness and prevention are not the focal point of this fight. We need to be creative. A great outreach tool is the media. Tracy Taylor wrote the film "Walking on Sunshine." This film won the BET/Black AIDS Institute Kaiser Foundation competion and garnered an NAACP image award nomination. This was a great way to educate as well as reach a very pop-inclined audience while offering sobering stats, and an everyday stroyline. You guys should check it out...maybe even launch your own competition of some sort.

write2say.blogspot.com

Sent by La'Keisha Gray-Sewell | 1:03 PM ET | 11-29-2007

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