|
LOU CHIBBARO JR
Friday, August 15, 2008
Whitman-Walker
Clinic
has
revealed
the
number
of
its
clients
testing
positive
for
HIV
jumped
from
80
in
the
first
half
of
2007
to
266
in
the
first
half
of
2008
—
an
unprecedented
increase
of
232
percent.
Clinic
officials
said
the
new
findings
are
especially
troubling
because
the
total
number
of
people
it
tested
for
HIV
so
far
in
2008,
about
6,500,
is
roughly
the
same
number
it
tested
during
the
first
half
of
2007,
meaning
the
spike
in
cases
was
not
a
result
of
testing
more
people.
“These
are
troubling
statistics
that
warrant
more
aggressive
education,
prevention
and
testing
initiatives,”
said
Dr.
Raymond
Martins,
Whitman-Walker’s
chief
medical
officer.
Martins
said
the
Clinic
is
reviewing
demographic
and
other
background
information
of
the
clients
that
were
diagnosed
this
year
with
HIV
to
determine
a
possible
cause
for
the
increase
in
positive
cases.
He
also
said
one-third
of
the
Clinic’s
clients
diagnosed
with
HIV
this
year
were
found
to
have
AIDS.
Many
had
no
obvious
symptoms
of
illness
but
a
measurement
of
their
body’s
immune
system
was
found
to
be
past
the
benchmark
for
an
AIDS
diagnosis,
Martins
said.
Martins
said
that
similar
to
findings
in
recent
years,
gay
men
and
African
Americans
comprised
most
of
the
clients
diagnosed
with
HIV
during
the
first
half
of
2008.
News
of
the
increase
in
HIV
diagnoses
for
Whitman-Walker’s
clients
comes
less
than
a
week
after
the
U.S.
Centers
for
Disease
Control
&
Prevention
released
new
data
showing
that
the
number
of
new
HIV
cases
in
the
U.S.
each
year
has
been
about
56,500
since
the
early
2000s.
The
federal
agency
had
previously
estimated
the
number
of
new
cases
each
year
to
be
about
40,000.
Federal
officials
have
said
the
increase
stems
from
better
techniques
for
counting
and
identifying
new
infections
rather
than
an
actual
increase
in
new
infections.
Whitman-Walker’s
new
data,
however,
appear
to
show
an
increase
in
the
actual
number
of
new
HIV
infections
among
its
client
base,
according
to
Martins.
He
and
Justin
Goforth,
director
of
Whitman-Walker’s
Medical
Adherence
Unit,
said
young
males
make
up
a
large
percentage
of
the
new
cases
in
the
D.C.
area.
“At
each
of
our
testing
sites,
we
are
seeing
an
increasing
number
of
young
gay
men,
particularly
African-American
men,
coming
to
us
newly
infected,”
Goforth
said.
“These
are
young
men
who
don’t
remember
the
first
wave
of
the
HIV/AIDS
epidemic
and
came
of
age
when
effective
treatments
were
available.
As
a
result,
they
have
never
seen
HIV
as
a
major
problem.”
In
an
effort
to
determine
why
the
infection
rate
is
rising
among
certain
groups,
Whitman-Walker
recently
conducted
a
series
of
“focus
group”
interviews
with
people
in
the
D.C.
area
who
are
considered
at
risk
to
contract
HIV.
According
to
a
Clinic
statement,
among
the
groups
represented
in
the
focus
groups
were
African-American
heterosexual
men
and
women,
young
gay
men
and
gay
men
of
color.
“One
surprising
theme
emerged
—
even
though
everyone
recognized
HIV
was
a
serious
issue,
every
group
identified
HIV
as
really
being
a
problem
for
another
demographic
group,”
the
statement
says.
“This
is
of
great
concern
because
the
highest
risk
groups
do
not
identify
themselves
as
being
high
risk
and
thus
increase
their
susceptibility
to
HIV
through
unsafe
behavior
and
a
lack
of
knowledge.”
Michael
Kharfen,
spokesperson
for
the
D.C.
HIV/AIDS
Administration,
said
his
agency
has
kept
track
of
the
total
number
of
new
HIV
cases
citywide,
but
wouldn’t
have
the
data
compiled
and
ready
for
release
until
November
or
December.
At
that
time,
HAA
will
release
the
number
of
new
HIV
cases
reported
in
the
District
only
for
2007,
Kharfen
said.
The
most
recent
citywide
data
on
new
HIV
cases
is
for
2006,
for
which
HAA
reported
a
total
of
403
new
cases.
HAA
data
gathered
between
2002
and
2006
show
a
yearly
decline
in
the
number
of
new
HIV
cases
across
the
city.
|
 |
