Residents of Norfolk, Va., Area Must Fight to Slow HIV Spread, Editorial Says
Although African-American and low-income residents of the Norfolk,Va., metropolitan area are contracting HIV at "an alarming rate," the fight against HIV/AIDS there has been "almost muted" and the "relative silence is shameful," a Virginian-Pilot editorial says. Funding to fight HIV/AIDS in the area is needed for prevention, education and treatment efforts in an area where "[t]oo many people deny the disease's existence [and] [t]oo many people take on multiple sexual partners without using condoms," according to the editorial. In addition, the area also needs a "healthy dose of compassion and concern." The communities most affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Southeastern Virginia must now follow the lead of the gay, white men who in the 1980s and 1990s mobilized against HIV/AIDS by educating themselves and fighting for funding in order to curb the spread of the virus in the area. "Compassion, candor and commitment must be used to halt the scourge of AIDS in our community," the editorial concludes (Virginian-Pilot, 11/13).
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