By Matt Simonette

Staff writer

HIV/AIDS advocates released a report Oct. 15 addressing the Latino community’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The report, issued by the Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness, calls on community members and civic leaders to respond to inadequate HIV/AIDS funding and heighten awareness within Illinois Latino communities.

The report was issued in commemoration of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day. Greater Humboldt Park Community of Wellness is a coalition of local health-related groups that secured funding for the project though the AIDS Foundation of Chicago.

Latinos comprise 14 percent of the U.S. population, but account for 20 percent of people living with AIDS—about 80,000 people—according to Miguel Palacio, associate director of Association House and co-chair of the Community of Wellness. He added that as of 2005, 20,000 Latinos had died of AIDS.

“The issue of AIDS clearly amplifies our need to always to find new reservoirs of compassion, to find our political voice and to confront difficult issues that many have deemed unmentionable, such as drug abuse and sexuality,” Palacio said. “Continued inattention to HIV/AIDS within our community is unacceptable.”

The GHPCW report called for raising visibility and engagement on HIV/AIDS within the Latino community, which has “maintained a very quiet voice” on the issue, according to state Rep. Cynthia Soto (D-Chicago).

“It is most saddening that the topic of HIV/AIDS continues to be taboo in the Latino community,” she said.

That stigma is an additional burden for persons with the disease. Martin Gozalez-Rojas of CALOR said it took him nearly two years for him to be able to talk with his family about being positive.

“Society hasn’t made it easier for persons with HIV/AIDS to come out of the closet,” Gozalez-Rojas said.

The report also called for the community and government to enhance its support of Latino organizations that are already responding to the epidemic.

According to Palacio, many community organizations are active in their response, but “do not have the capacity or infrastructure to take advantage of resources that are available.” He said that funding entities need to assess the technical needs of these organizations and understand what work they are capable of.

He added that funding for organizations and projects needs to be implemented more often on a multi-year basis, rather than having to be renewed annually.

“It is not sufficient to provide organizations with grants that last for one year, and then they go away. …They have to continue in order for those organizations to build their capacity, to build their services and also to give their personnel ongoing experience,” Palacio said.

The report also called on the Latino community to engage and educate elected officials on the issue and utilize any government resources that might be available.

Nanette Benbow, of the STD/HIV/AIDS Division of the Chicago Department of Public Health, said, “The epidemic is most certainly in the Latino community but it’s not out of control. The good news is that it’s a perfect time, it’s a prime time, to really get prevention going.”

The full GHPCW report can be accessed online at www.humboldtparkbeehive.org.