African-American Leaders Unveil Three-Part Plan to Fight HIV Spread Among State’s Minorities

More than 100 activists met Saturday in Los Angeles to discuss the "gravity" of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community, the Los Angeles Times reports. The activists, who "dressed in black," listened as "speaker after speaker" said that AIDS is an "epidemic attacking blacks around the world" -- with one in 50 black men and one in 150 black women infected with HIV in the United States. Internationally, about 80% of the 40,000 new HIV cases diagnosed each year occur in Africa. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and members of the Alliance of Black Women Organizations at the rally released a "three-pronged plan" to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS in African-American communities. Waters said that the meeting organizers will hold "community teach-ins," distribute condoms in hotels, barbershops and salons and form teams to "reach out" to community members at schools, malls and sporting events. On a national level, Waters said that the Congressional Black Caucus has asked President Bush to declare AIDS among minorities a national emergency and has requested $550 million for outreach projects and research. Cynthia Davis, an assistant professor with Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center's HIV program, said, "What is happening in Africa could happen in our own backyard if we don't wake up" (Schwartz, Los Angeles Times, 7/1).