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November 18, 1999 DES MOINES, Iowa -- The number of reported AIDS cases and the number of deaths due to AIDS are dropping rapidly throughout Iowa, according to recent reports on AIDS issued by the Iowa Department of Public Health. However, these reports do not represent the cases involving the HIV virus, possible AIDS cases that just haven't progressed to the latter stages of the disease. These numbers continue to rise on a yearly basis, said Joanne Wakeham, program manager assistant for the STD and HIV prevention program for the Iowa Department of Public Health. Total reported AIDS cases dropped 40.7 percent from 1997 to 1998, from 108 to 64. Deaths due to AIDS decreased 80 percent in this one-year period. "Hopefully, what we're seeing is people are being tested early, so they aren't progressing to a stage that can be defined as AIDS," Wakeham said. "There is still a clear problem with the large number of people that are being infected with HIV, though." A cumulative report of AIDS cases throughout Iowa shows the majority of those infected with AIDS are white -- the majority of Iowa's population. Of the total 1,170 cases of AIDS reported in Iowa since statistics began being taken, 1,015 of those have been in whites. However, in recent years the cases have been showing up increasingly more often in blacks. The largest age group infected with AIDS is the range from 30-year-olds to 39-year-olds. Men have been infected with AIDS almost nine times more than women, and men who have sex with men are exposed to AIDS more commonly than any other exposure category. Other categories of exposure included in the Department of Public Health's report are injecting drug users, sexually active heterosexuals, recipients of blood or other tissue and those infected with hemophilia or coagulation disorder. "A lot of our work focuses on risk reduction," said John Cats, program manager for the STD and HIV prevention program for the Iowa Department of Public Health. "The way we do this is by targeting individuals who are at risk, particularly men having sex with men and injecting drug users." Beyond the collection of AIDS statistics, the Department of Public Health focuses its attention on preventative programs. The first program funded by the department is directed at HIV prevention. The prevention program consists of counseling programs, testing centers and referral programs that work to encourage people to be tested. Along with this part of the HIV prevention program, partners of those who are found HIV positive are also encouraged to go through testing. The department also has health education and risk reduction programs targeted at high-risk populations. A community-planning group prioritizes these risk populations. The education and risk reduction programs primarily focus on small-group interventions to reach the people who are a part of the high-risk populations. "We locate agencies all over the state where the AIDS epidemic exists to try to help the people who need help and hopefully eventually lower the numbers of people infected with HIV," said Pat Young, STD and HIV prevention coordinator for the Department of Public Health. The department also disseminates information on AIDS and HIV, primarily through published brochures. An AIDS hotline is also funded. "Our major goal is to take all of the information that people constantly get in the form of literature and translate that into action that will work," Young said. The department also has HIV prevention and community planning and holds HIV conferences to increase people's awareness of the disease and its severity. Funding for all the programs comes primarily from the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The money is then distributed following recommendations from a community planning group. According to Wakeham, the figures that show reported AIDS cases and deaths dropping significantly over the last years are misleading, because although those numbers are dropping, HIV infection is rising. People with the HIV virus are not considered AIDS patients until they develop serious symptoms. Wakeham said all of the new drugs that have been put on the market in the last few years have been successful in keeping some people infected with HIV from reaching a point that can be defined as AIDS, thus AIDS cases are decreasing. Because new drugs can slow the progression of the HIV virus, organizations such as the AIDS Project of Central Iowa can now focus more attention on making people's lives bearable after being found HIV-positive. "HIV is moving towards people of color," said Myke Selha, client advocate and project coordinator for the AIDS Project of Central Iowa. "It's also moving more toward lower income people, people who are already strained financially." The AIDS Project of Central Iowa helps those infected to get food stamps if needed, and it provides a food shelf clients can visit -- no questions asked -- once a week. "It used to be we helped people infected prepare to die," Selha said. "Now we focus on helping these people live again, especially financially." |