ALLENTOWN, Pa., May 18, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- To educate healthcare professionals on how to treat HIV/AIDS across cultural lines, Minority Health Care Communications (MHCC) today announced it will hold the first-ever annual National Conference on Latinos and AIDS, May 24 and 25, 2004, at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel in Philadelphia.
The conference will feature Miguel Gomez, Director of the President's Leadership Campaign on AIDS; Christopher Bates, Acting Director, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of HIV/AIDS Policy; and a guest appearance by Erik Estrada to underscore the impact this disease is having on Latino families and the unique issues Latino families face as a multi-national people - from Ecuador, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Central America, Brazil, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean Nations, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Peru, Cuba, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Belize, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Chile, Panama, Paraguay, Uruguay, and other countries. The conference will update participants on the incidence and management of HIV in the United States, current guidelines and cutting-edge clinical methods, current research encompassing drug abuse and its connection to the epidemic, social and psychiatric concerns of the infected patient, policy initiatives, trends and political issues, which impact patients.
K. Mary Hess, President of Minority Health Care Communications Inc., stressed, "We need a comprehensive prevention campaign that allows for tailoring to the many cultures within the Latino Community. The severe lack of access to all forms of HIV prevention, education, testing, and medical care for undocumented Latino Peoples has created an 'invisible' parallel HIV epidemic." Hess added, "The Latino AIDS Organization Leadership at this conference will announce a petition to the Hispanic Congressional Caucus demanding increased funding to address these and other critical issues in the fight against HIV in the Latino Community."
The HIV/AIDS issue has fallen off the radar screen of most Americans, propagating a false sense of security. According to MHCC, as a nation, we've assumed only people in certain categories risk infection when, in reality, the incidence of HIV is increasing disproportionately in certain communities subjecting individuals to the disease across the lines of gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The majority say, 'I don't belong,' but no longer do the traditional risk factor groups apply.
Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control indicate the United States has a large and growing Latino population that is heavily affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In 2000, Hispanics, or the Latino community, represented 13 percent of the U.S. population, but accounted for 19 percent of the total number of new U.S. AIDS cases reported that year. The Latino AIDS incidence rate per 100,000 was more than three times the rate for whites.
Attendees at The National Conference on Latinos and AIDS include HIV specialists, public health researchers, AIDS Organization members, and many other types of health practitioners. Dozens of attendees were given free admission scholarships from funds raised for the event.
For more information or to register for the conference, visit the Minority Health Care Communications Web site at www.minority-healthcare.com, or call 610-417-5844.
Minority Health Care Communications, Inc., is a non profit health education organization focused entirely on the creation and promotion of specialized healthcare education conferences, seminars, and workshops on HIV/AIDS and Cancer in the African-American and Latino communities.