2005 New Cases: 1,806*

Black: 63%
White: 28%
Latino: 7%

Children
College Students
Women

Adolfo Aguilar
Outreach Worker, Chatham Social Health Council
Coleen Cunningham
Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Duke University Medical Center
Milford Evans
Benefits Advocate
Gerrod Henderson
HIV Positive teenager
Peter Leone, M.D
Medical Director, HIV/STD Prevention & Care Branch
Jonathan Perry
HIV Positive
Fred Wiggins
HIV Positive
Del Williams, Ph.D
Manager, Epidemiology & Special Studies HIV/STD Prevention & Care Branch

HIV/AIDS on Campus
HIV/AIDS & Kids
HIV/AIDS & Latinos
HIV/AIDS & Women

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*NC Department of Health and Human Services

HIV/AIDS Among Latinos 

State health leaders say the new age of HIV/AIDS could someday soon become a crisis among the Latino population. Epidemiologists say the number of new cases among Latinos jumped from 15 in 1998 to 125 in 2005. That's an eight-fold increase. Latinos represent seven percent of all cases in North Carolina.

“The actual numbers are still relatively small," says state epidemiologist Dr. Del Williams. "The disturbing trend is that we're seeing an increase every year. And it's not going to be long before that increase, really, unfortunately, I think will start to take off."

That expected increase is a red flag to Dr. Rafael Torres. He's an HIV specialist at Tri-County Community Health Center in Sampson County, where he cares for more than 250 HIV and AIDS patients. Many of the Latinos he treats are migrant farm workers whose lifestyle, he says, puts them at risk.

“If all your family is back home, you're working seven days a week; you have half a day to do recreation, probably the most common cause of happiness will be alcohol," explains Dr. Torres. "With alcohol comes carefree behavior, and probably you'll be missing your wife and you'll be engaging in situations that might endanger your health."

Dr. Torres says bilingual access is an obstacle to HIV education and care for many Latinos. That's why Tri-county has a bilingual outreach team, which will go almost anywhere to educate people and test them for HIV.

"We've gone to the migrant camps," says John Bass, a peer educator. "We go and we set up at churches. We've set up at the college, at the Indian tribal center because we have a large American Indian population."

Outreach worker Adolfo Aguilar agrees education is critical to stopping HIV among Latinos and says it's most effective when it happens where the people are. He works for the Chatham Social Health Council in Siler City, where the Latino population has grown rapidly in recent years. He targets factories, soccer leagues and Latino grocery stores, giving out free condoms and telling people how to reduce their risk for HIV. He says he's made significant progress in educating the community.

"Three years ago, they won't think about it, won't even think about it," says Aguilar. "Say AIDS and HIV is only for gays, gays it's a big problem. Only they can have AIDS. Now people are really open. You can walk on the street now and talk about condoms. It's like talking about the weather. So now they feel comfortable."

Making people comfortable is also the idea behind El Centro Hispano's Project Life in Durham. "Promotores," or peer educators, go door-to-door in their own neighborhoods, where residents know them and are likely to trust them. But health educator Oscar Garcia says building trust is just one barrier to overcome. There's also a unique cultural sensitivity.

"One of the obstacles I see is religion because most of the Latinos are Catholic, and Catholics don't believe in condom protection," explains Garcia. "Sometimes when I go to the clubs, because we do outreach at the bars, and I give out the condoms, they're just like, oh, you don't respect me, you know.”