Fw: [] NATAP: Chelsea Highest HIV Rate in NYC

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Subject: [] NATAP: Chelsea Highest HIV Rate in NYC

 

Chelsea Has Highest HIV Infection Rate in New York, City Says

September 21, 2011 1:16pm | By Mathew Katz, DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

AIDS medications like these ones have made the disease much more manageable in

recent years. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

CHELSEA — Chelsea has the highest rate of HIV infection in the city, according

to the most recent numbers

released by the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

The neighborhood had an rate of 155.3 HIV diagonoses per 100,000 people in

2009 — more than three times the city's overall average. The next

neighborhood down on the list was Central Harlem — Morningside Heights,

which had an infection rate of 127.1 per 100,000 people.

The

report also found that five percent of Chelsea residents were living

with HIV/AIDS. Overall, 1.4 percent of the city's population has HIV.

More people in Chelsea who were diagnosed with HIV/AIDS identify themselves

as men who have sex with men than the citywide average, the data said. 

Of those infected in Chelsea in 2009, roughly 75 percent of those

diagnosed with HIV self-reported to the Health Department as being men

who have sex with men, compared to 43 percent of those diagnosed

citywide who self reported as men who have sex with men, according to

the study.

In addition, a majority of those

diagnosed with HIV/AIDS who live in Chelsea are white, a much higher

proportion than the citywide average, the Health Dept. found. About 54.5 percent

of those diagnosed in Chelsea are white, compared with

approximately 16.7 percent citywide. The population of Chelsea was 65

percent white, according to the 2000 Census.

Historically, the

area has a relatively high level of the virus, which leads it to spread

more easily, but experts also credit continued unsafe sex in the

community.

Guidry, the Director of Community Health and

Research at Gay Men's Health Crisis, an AIDS service organization, said

the numbers reflect a disturbing trend of some gay men throwing caution

into the wind when it comes to safe sex.

" People are not thinking

of HIV as a big deal anymore, " he said. " It's not the first thing on

people's minds. There may not be a sense of urgency. "

HIV is no

longer the death sentence it once was, and antiretroviral drugs have

turned it into a relatively manageable disease — so much so that some

men are taking it less seriously, he said. At the same time, there's

still a stigma against the disease itself.

" There's patterns of

people not disclosing [if they have HIV] to the person you would be

partnering with, "  Guidry said. " They're in the moment, and it still

stops people from taking steps to protect themselves. "

At the same time, the neighborhood has a huge support network for people living

with HIV/AIDS. The city offers rapid HIV testing and counselling at a clinic in

the neighborhood. In July, GMHC opened the storefront Center for HIV Prevention

at 224 W. 29th St.

There are also many Chelsea-based bars, clubs, and sports leagues that raise

money for HIV/AIDS organizations.

" A lot of our clients have it. It's something important to them, " said Rob

Hynds, co-owner of Boxers NYC, a gay sports bar at 37 W. 20th St. " The community

really comes together on this. "

Like many bars in the neighborhood, Boxers hosts fundraising events once ever

few months.

" Many of us have had friends that died, " said Hynds. " You can't get anything

closer to their hearts. "

Still, the disease is not something you advertise, according to Bob, a

51-year-old Chelsea resident who recently contracted HIV and did not

want his last name used.

" It's something I avoided for so long, so I was unsafe, " he said. " I still

haven't told my best friends, but I

haven't had sex since. "

Guidry said that kind of sentiment is common.

" There can still be a heightened sense of stigma individually that keeps people

quiet, " he said.

Things may be looking up for the gay community, however. Recent potential

game-changers in research may soon revolutionize HIV prevention. The CDC is

currently testing pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, a new prevention method

that involves those without HIV taking a steady regimen of antiretroviral drugs.

Clinical tests showed that PrEP reduced HIV infections by 92 percent over a

placebo, according to a July report. The tests come after years of whispers in

the gay community that such a treatment worked.

" People thought if you have a certain

level of treatment in the body, you won’t get it, " said Guidry. " So you

had men without HIV who have been taking HIV drugs. "

Still, Guidry points out that even going by the results shown by the clinical

tests,

PrEP is not as safe as using a condom. GMHC wants people to know that,

and that HIV is still something to take seriously, especially in

Chelsea.

" We have been a street-level presence here, " Guidry said.

" We're here to tell people it's still a big deal. "