In Black America; HIV and AIDS Thirty Years Later, with Phill Wilson, President and CEO Black AIDS Institute

From the University of Texas at Austin, KUT Radio, this is In Black America. Today, you can get an HIV test and get the results back in some cases in a minute. In many places, you can get HIV test for free. If you're concerned about privacy, you can take an HIV test in the privacy of your own home. So it is very easy to find out your HIV status. And there's no longer a need for a blood draw. You can do a oral swab or a finger press. Bill Wilson, President and CEO of the Black A's Institute. Founded 19 years after doctors in this country first identified the new disease, the Black A's Institute is the only national HIV-A's think tank in the country

that focused exclusively on African-Americans. Bear mission is to stop the AIDS pandemic in the African-American community by interpreting and making recommendations on public and private sector HIV policies, conduct training, disseminate information, and provide advocacy from an African-American point of view. Prior to found the institute, Wilson was the AIDS coordinator for the city of Los Angeles. Also, he was the co-founder of the National Black Lesbian and Engage Leadership Forum and the National Task Force on AIDS Prevention. I'm John L. Hanson Jr. and welcome to another edition of In Black America. On this week's program, HIV-A's in the African-American community 30 years later with Phil Wilson, President and CEO with the Black A's Institute in Black America. I think there are a number of driving factors that put black women at risk. One of them, and probably a chief one among them, is that they don't perceive that they are at risk. The second one is stigma associated with the disease.

The third one is an inability or unwillingness to talk to the sexual partners about HIV and AIDS. The fourth one really has to do with the gender gap in black communities that there are a lot more black women than there are black men. And so, sometimes black women are in black women think they are in monogamous relationships when they are not and sometimes they know that they're at in a monogamous relationship but that is okay with them because the gender gap and that can certainly be okay being in a non-monogamous relationship by itself is not a risky factor. Many people may think the AIDS epidemic is over. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in the African-American community. There are about 1.2 million Americans in this country living with HIV AIDS. Nearly 40% of them are African-Americans.

Nearly 64% of women living with HIV in this country are African-American. Also, nearly 67% of all newly diagnosed cases of HIV are African-American young people, ages 13 to 19. Founded in May 1999, the Black AIDS Institute is the leading HIV AIDS voice in Black America. Their model is our people, our problem, our solution. As President and CEO of the Institute, Phil Wilson has been on the front line since the HIV AIDS crisis began. He has been involved in the founding of a number of AIDS service organizations and community based organizations. In 1994, he was a member of the U.S. delegation to the World AIDS Summit in Paris, and his work extensively on HIV AIDS policy, research, prevention, and treatment issues. Recently in Black America, spoke with Wilson regarding HIV AIDS 30 years later. I was born in Chicago, Illinois.

I'm the oldest of four children. My family still lived in Chicago, where we were all raised. I now live in Los Angeles, and I'm the President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. Tell us about the Black AIDS Institute. The Black AIDS Institute is the only national HIV AIDS think tank in the United States that focuses exclusively on Black communities. Our mission is to end the AIDS epidemic by engaging and mobilizing traditional Black institutions, leaders, and individuals, and efforts to confront HIV and AIDS. We basically do six things. We do information dissemination. We do training and capacity building. We provide technical assistance. We do policy work. We provide linkage to care and retention to care in Los Angeles, and we do mobilization and advocacy from a uniquely and unapologetically Black point of view. Our job is to make sure that Black communities know what they need to know about HIV and AIDS, and they have access to all the pertinent resources and information that are out there to increase the number of Black Americans who are in appropriate care.

And to reduce new infections in our communities. Why do you believe this institute was necessary considering AIDS came on the scene around 1980 and now you may have a generation that know little if any about the disease. Well, I mean, the Black Institute is necessary in part because as you just pointed out, there's a generation that knows little or anything about the AIDS epidemic and about the disease itself. Number two, even though many people think that the AIDS epidemic is over is not over for anyone, and it's particularly not over in Black communities. Today, we continue to have people who are getting infected with HIV in our communities, people who are getting sick from AIDS in our community and people who are dying in our community. In 2017, one could argue that HIV and AIDS is a Black disease in America today.

We represent 40% of all people living with HIV and AIDS are Black in America, nearly 50% of the new infections in America are Black. And nearly 50% of the age-related deaths in America are Black. Black women have a one and 32% chance of getting infected with HIV. Black men have a one and 16% chance of getting infected with HIV over the course of their lifetime. So no matter how you look at it through the lens of gender or sexual orientation or age or socioeconomic class or level of education or region of the country where you live in, Black people build the brunt of the AIDS epidemic in America today. And that's against a backdrop of new resources that are available that could turn the tide of the epidemic. Unfortunately, Black communities often are not aware of these new resources, do not have access to them, do not understand that they're available or how they work and therefore don't utilize them.

How are we going about exposing this information as far as prevention and treatment in the African American community? Well, you know, I think that there are a number of things that we are doing and that we can do and that we can do more of. Now, certainly, you know, media organizations like this radio show that talks about these issues, that is very, very, very important. The Black AIDS Institute, of course, works with Black media organizations all over the country to increase coverage on HIV and AIDS and awareness about HIV and AIDS, that's important. We also need to be doing work in the schools so that we're doing a better job of reaching young people. And we also need to make sure, quite frankly, that more and more and more Black people have access to health care, the recent debate in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate about taking away health care from 25 million Americans.

That also means taking away preventive care, it also means taking away health education so people won't know what they need to know. They won't have access to things that can prevent them from getting infected with HIV and they won't have access to treatment once they get infected with HIV. How has our institutions addressed the problem of AIDS? Well, it depends on how you find our institutions. Our fraternal organizations, our churches, our civic groups. You talk about Black institutions. Yes, sir. Yeah, so Black institutions were late to the party, if you will. One number of reasons, one is that in the beginning HIV and AIDS was mischaracterized.

It was characterized as the white gay disease, when actually it never was a white gay disease. Black people were disproportionately impacted by HIV as early as 1982. Because Black people were told and believed that this disease was about white gay men and not about Black gay men, not about Black women, not about Black young people, we didn't believe that it was our problem. Then once it became clearer that HIV wasn't issued in Black communities, there was tremendous amount of stigma associated with the disease. Thirdly, many of our institutions have a full plate and were overwhelmed. Chronologically, the HIV epidemic and the crack epidemics, for example, happened around the same time. Many of our institutions were inundated with a whole lot of other issues.

The good news is that many of our institutions have responded to the AIDS epidemic and have been doing work on the epidemic. The bad news is that many of those organizations are not focusing as intently as they were just a few years ago, because again, they are under the assumption that the AIDS epidemic is over. So part of our job has to be to make sure all of our institutions know that the epidemic is not over. Give our audience a definition between the two HIV and AIDS. Well, HIV is the virus that causes AIDS. HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus. It's a retrovirus. And that actually causes AIDS. AIDS is actually the disease that one can develop and usually does develop when you are infected with HIV if you don't get treated. And so that's the difference between HIV and AIDS.

How has the treatment advanced thus far? Well, we've had a tremendous amount of advances in both treatment and prevention. Now, we have a bunch of new tools so that we should be able to turn around the AIDS epidemic in our community. We have new diagnostic tools. It's never been easier or simpler or faster or cheaper to know your HIV status. Today, you can get an HIV test and get the results back in some cases in a minute. In any places, you can get HIV test for free. If you're concerned about privacy, you can take an HIV test in the privacy of your own home. So it is very easy to find out your HIV status. And there's no longer a need for a blood draw. You can do an oral swab or a finger print. We have better diagnostic tools. But we also have better surveillance tools. Today, we know where the epidemic is down to the census tract or the zip code in some cases. So we know where the majority of the cases are.

We also have better treatment tools. Today, you know, the treatments are simpler and more effective than they ever were before. In some cases, people can be on one till a day to provide treatment for HIV and AIDS. Very, very different from a number of years ago when sometimes it was 10, 12, 15, 20 pills a day that you would take. Throughout the day, some of them you would have to take early in the morning. Some of them you would have to take with food. Some of them you would have to take without food. So we have better treatment tools available as well. Ms. Wilson, I read somewhere that in the state of Indiana, there was a particular section of the state where there was an opioid epidemic and it was correlating with the AIDS outbreak. And it had to do with using unclean needles. Do you have any information regarding that? Absolutely, it happened in rural southern Indiana where there were prohibition for funding for needle exchange program that would eliminate the need for people to share needles.

And what we discovered is because of the AIDS epidemic, no, we discovered that there was an opioid epidemic. And so there was dramatic increases in HIV and AIDS in southern Indiana as a result of people changing people sharing needles for the purposes of drug you. And that was the precursor of understanding of the opioid addiction. Joining us, I'm Johnny Ohens in junior and you're listening to in black America from K U T radio. And we're speaking with Phil Wilson, President and CEO of Black AIDS Institute. Mr. Wilson, why has African American women taken such a hit with age cases in the country thus far? What's going on with African American women and this particular disease? I think there are a number of driving factors that put black women at risk. One of them and probably a chief one among them is that they don't perceive that they are at risk.

Now, the second one is stigma associated with the disease. The third one is an inability or unwillingness to talk to their sexual partners about HIV and AIDS. The fourth one really has to do with the gender gap in black communities that there are a lot more black women than there are black men. And so sometimes black women are in black women think they are in monogamous relationships when they are not. Sometimes they know that they are in a monogamous relationship, but that is okay with them because of the gender gap. And that can certainly be okay being in a non monogamous relationship by itself is not a risky factor. Now, particularly if you are protecting yourself, particularly if you know the HIV status of your partner, but the combination of being sexually active with other people who are also sexually active and you know neither their HIV status or your HIV status and you are not taking measures to protect yourself that puts you at risk for HIV.

And then again, it goes back to some of the issues we talked about earlier and that is lack of health care, lack of a primary care physician, lack of access to preventive services and lack of access to health education. Does the institute provide information that will enable these women to have these conversations with their partners? We do a number of programs with black women. We are partnering with the plan parenthood to dramatically expand HIV prevention services to black and other women of color. We also have that we develop a report on the state of HIV and AIDS among black women in America. We have a number of educational and informational materials, particularly to help black women find the information they need about prep pre-exposure polpilexas and other biomedical prevention resources that are available.

We have found a complex thing and interesting. I saw an AIDS group between 13 and 25 or 26 where there is that gap of African American women are contracting AIDS. Certainly, there are high levels of risk of HIV infection among that age group. But the risk of HIV and AIDS while it changes as women get older, it doesn't go away. It's so important for people to be conscious and to be protecting themselves at all ages.

How has the incarceration, the heavy incarceration of African American men has had on the AIDS epidemic? The mass incarceration of black men in America has had a devastating impact on black communities in a whole host of ways, including issues concerning HIV and AIDS. Economically, it exacerbates the gender gap that already exists in black communities and it puts an additional burden to absorb these young men back into communities when they come back to the communities. Tell us about the upcoming 16th annual Heroes in the Struggle Awards. Every year, the Black AIDS Institute inducts individuals into our Heroes in the Struggle Hall of Fame. These are individuals who personify the heroism necessary to end the AIDS epidemic in our community.

This year, the theme is black men honoring black women. We are so proud that all of our honorees this year are women. transome, young folk in the banking system of Black men being seen in our GPHenson Alfred Woodard, Vanessa William lookinina Brown and even Jigne Belin Fonte, the corporate hero this year. Gaila reception and awards presentation at 20th Century Fox Studio. The event is hosted by Jesse Smollett from Empire. We have a host of celebrities who are going to be presenters, including John Singleton and Terrence Howard and Danny Glover and Lance Alonzo and Mahersula Ali.

We saw a number of presenters and we have a special presentation being done by Lettucey, who will do a musical tribute. So it is one of the ways in which we help raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic. And in this particular case, help raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic among black women. You mentioned earlier about you all's partnership with plant parenthood. How did that particular togetherness come together? Well, we have had a long-term relationship with plant parenthood in an informal way. And when we decided to focus more attention on AIDS among black women and given the work that plant parenthood does around reproductive health and the ongoing work that they also do around

HIV and AIDS and women, we reached out to plant parenthood to look at their infrastructure of clinical service as a mechanism to expand HIV prevention services in black communities. Over the time that you've been involved with the AIDS epidemic, what are some of the successes you've seen and what are some of the hurdles that still needs to be overcome? Well, relative to the successes, no, I mentioned a number of advances we've made in diagnostic surveillance and treatment, but we've also made dramatic advances in prevention. No, we now have the ability to literally interrupt transmission of HIV by helping people who are living with HIV, no, beyond optimal treatment. If people with HIV on our optimal treatment, we almost eliminate the possibility of transmitting the epidemic to another person.

We reduce transmissibility by 96%. If we can get people who are living with HIV on the care of treatment that they need and deserve. And that's all the more reason why we have to fight, again, efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act. If we repeal the Affordable Care Act, many people who need to be on HIV treatment will not be able to be on HIV treatment because they won't have access to the treatment. That's bad for them, but it also undermines our treatment efforts. The other way that we have advancement and prevention is called pre-exposure prophylaxis, where we can interrupt acquisition of the virus. So even if you are exposed to HIV, we can prevent you from getting HIV by having you on prep. It's one pill a day. One pill a day can prevent an individual from getting HIV. And so these are tremendous advances that we've made

over time. Relative to challenges are that even with these advantages, black communities are not benefiting from these advantages at the same level as white and other communities are. So we need to figure out how to increase the HIV science and treatment literacy in black communities. We need to figure out how to increase access to both preventative treatment and therapeutic treatment in black communities. And we have to figure out a way to increase utilization of both preventative and therapeutic tools if we're going to end the eighth of a epidemic in our community. It all begins with now each individual doing their part, no matter who you are, no matter where you are, there is a role for you to play in the fight against HIV. Is there a national day each year that we as African Americans address the crisis of AIDS in our

community? Well, at the black age institute, we like to say every day is black age awareness day. We want people to be addressing it every day. The epidemic doesn't rest. The virus doesn't rest and neither can we. But there are some days that there are particular attention to the epidemic. No, one is in February, national black HIV Awareness Day, which is on February 7th. In March, there is the week of prayer for the healing of AIDS, which is important. On June 27th, there is national HIV testing day. And then on December 1st, there's World AIDS Day. So there are a number of days that are opportunities for folks to beef up on their knowledge, to find out their HIV status, to have conversations with family and friends about HIV so that we can do

something to improve the HIV health outcomes in our community. You mentioned earlier in the discussion about partnership with schools. I assume those colleges and universities. Well, we need to be partnering with colleges and universities, but we also need to be partnering with high schools and middle schools and grade schools. Now, it is never too early to teach our children in an age appropriate way of how to protect themselves. And we need to start early and we need to repeat those efforts now through the lifetime of an individual, including no pre-adolescence and adolescents and younger adults. How can organizations listening to this program go about assisting you or obtaining information that they can disseminate? Well, if people want information about the Black AIDS Institute or about HIV and AIDS, you certainly can go to our website www.blackage.org. You can also sign up and subscribe to our

weekly newsletter. We produce a weekly newsletter that goes out every Tuesday morning on the latest information about HIV and AIDS. If you want to make a donation, you can go to www.blackage.org. We need all the help we can get, particularly with what's going on in Washington, DC. Black organizations are in big trouble and Black AIDS organizations are also in a lot of big trouble with all the cutbacks in health and programs to divert funds. To donate, people can go to our website again at www.blackage.org and you can make a donation there. Field Wilson, President and CEO of the Black AIDS Institute. If you have questions, comments, those suggestions ask your future in Black America programs, email us at inblackamerica.com at kut.org. Also, let us know what radio station you heard us over. Remember to like us on

Facebook and to follow us on Twitter. The views and opinions expressed on this program are not necessarily those of this station or of the University of Texas at Austin. You can have previous programs online at kut.org. Until we have the opportunity again for technical producer Dave with Alvarez, I'm John L. Hanson, Jr. Thank you for joining us today. Please join us again next week. CD copies of this program are available and may be purchased by writing in Black America CDs. KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard, Austin, Texas, 78712. That's in Black America CDs, KUT Radio, 300 West Dean Keaton Boulevard, Austin, Texas, 78712. This has been a production of KUT Radio.