My Tales of Two Cities
My name is Christopher Ervin. I am the Director of Development for Aniz, Inc. This has been a most auspicious week for me. I have the privilege of participating in two events that speaks to why I work in the community. It should be noted that as we discuss HIV/AIDS, I will be in two of the cities that have been significantly impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. My week started out in Washington, DC participating in the National Minority Quality Forum/Congressional Black Caucus Foundation in cooperation with the Congressional Black Caucus 7th Annual Leadership Summit. The focus of this summit is to bring community leaders, health providers and policy makers together to address health disparities in the country and improving health equity. During the time here, there has been much discussion of how to not only increase participation of disparate communities in clinical trials, but how to make such clinical trials more patient and community-centered. In addition, there was a panel discussion that discuss the issues of how HIV/AIDS, including ADAP is funded, the importance of health provider training and importance of increased diversity in HIV vaccine trials. If you interested in some of the proceedings of the summit, you can follow my twitter as @cprdoc or my organization as @Aniz_Inc
Now I will be in Baltimore continuing the discussions at the HIV Research Catalyst Forum. I am looking forward to working with other individuals to learn how better reach disparate and emerging populations, learn of new and effective prevention tools, and engaging in advocacy work.
Why is this important? The Center of Disease Control and Prevention data from 2006 reveals that 1.1 million individuals are living with HIV/AIDS. Of those, 65% belong to non-Caucasian racial/ethnic groups. In addition, based on current data and projections, the lifetime risks of HIV infection for the following populations:
* African American men: 1 in 16
* African American women: 1 in 30
* Hispanic Men: 1 in 35
* Hispanic Women: 1 in 114
* White Men: 1 in 104
* White Women: 1 in 588
The need for culturally appropriate, inclusive, and community-centered research within these populations is evident. It is vital that we have better prevention, more effective treatments, and improved quality of life. I am thrilled to be a part of this effort and look forward to sharing what I learn with my peers and the community at large.
If you would like to know more about Aniz, you can click on the link above or follow us on Facebook.
Tags: health disparities, HIV Research Catalyst Forum, HIV/AIDS, National Minority Quality Forum, policy, research