BY ANDREW DAVIS
Dr. Eric E. Whitaker, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health ( IDPH ) , announced the 2005 HIV/AIDS statistics—and the news shows that things are improving.
Last year, the number of reported AIDS cases actually declined by three percent from 1,410 in 2004 to 1,366 in 2005. Illinois also saw a decrease of new infections in 2005 from the previous year.
In order to encourage people to get tested on National HIV Testing Day, June 27, Whitaker visited the Gift House Inc., an organization that performs HIV counseling and testing and is funded by IDPH.
Among those hardest hit by HIV/AIDS are minorities. On Sept. 15, 2005, Governor Rod R. Blagojevich launched the BASUAH ( Brothers And Sisters United Against HIV/AIDS ) campaign to address the increase of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. In 2005, African Americans made up about 50 percent of all reported HIV/AIDS cases in Illinois, but only represent 15 percent of the state's population. As disturbing as that number might be, it actually represents a positive change; in 2004, African Americans comprised 54 percent of all reported HIV/AIDS cases in Illinois.
In addition, the rate of new HIV reported cases in Illinois is slowing. From 2004 to 2005, the number increased by less than one percent. From 2003 to 2004, the increase was almost 16 percent.
Of the cases reported in 2005, men having sex with men remains the leading mode of transmission in Illinois, with 1751 cases. Injection drug use ( IDU ) transmission decreased from 574 in 2004 to 431 in 2005.
Jim Pickett of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago e-mailed a statement to Windy City Times that the numbers offer hope but should not be cause for celebration: 'There was a slight decline in AIDS cases, which is encouraging, and, hopefully, evidence that more people with HIV are getting state-of-the-art healthcare ... but it's really too soon to know. I think the number may mostly be showing a leveling off of reported HIV and AIDS cases which is also encouraging news but no victory.' He added that testing awareness might actually cause a bump in next year's statistics because of the huge number of state residents ( approximately 10,000, according to Pickett ) who are currently unaware that they are HIV-positive; finding out that they are positive may increase the 2006 numbers.
However, Pickett is most encouraged by the decline in cases in IDUs. 'This is a fantastic trend that we hope is sustained over time,' he stated. 'It would mean that our efforts to expand sterile injection equipment are paying off and are driving down newinfections in this population.'
For more information, call the Illinois HIV/AIDS and STD hotline at 800-243-2437 from 9:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. on Mon.-Fri. and 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. on weekends.
