Put AIDS Funds Where Needed

Those in the fight against AIDS and HIV have been slow to respond to the latest infection trends, which show the disease taking a tenacious foothold among African Americans and Latinos.

In Los Angeles County, for example, African Americans and Latinos account for 68% of all newly diagnosed AIDS cases. But the proportion of AIDS resources devoted to the education, housing and treatment of these populations in their own neighborhoods has been absurdly low. Blame for this error can be found in many places, from local governments and long-standing AIDS organizations to pharmaceutical companies and the federal government.

As one Washington AIDS spokesman recently put it, “It’s like trying to turn around an oil tanker in the middle of the ocean. By the time you’re headed back to rescue the person who fell off, they’re already dead.”

Times reporter Jocelyn Stewart points to the roots of inaction in minority neighborhoods. AIDS hit first among gay white males, and the initial resources went to that community. Such an allocation of resources no longer makes good medical sense or sound public policy.

Even now, with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors declaring an emergency, 11 of the 12 new AIDS housing programs underway are in Hollywood, West Hollywood or downtown, areas with substantial gay populations. There should be a shift to poor, inner-city communities in terms of housing and education programs. The Los Angeles city and county governments can start with that.

Campaigns against AIDS have been sending a mixed message: Billboards show a healthy-looking man “living with” AIDS. That’s a factual image, but AIDS is still an extremely painful and expensive disease to live with. And it remains fatal.

This is the time for action. It took far too long to open the Palms, one of the few AIDS housing and treatment facilities in South Los Angeles. Operated by a couple willing to transform their hotel into a haven for AIDS sufferers, the Palms received local financial and political clout and well-placed state and federal funds. It’s a success story, one that needs to be repeated many times over.