No one has formulated a community needs assessment to address what has become an HIV/AIDS epidemic in the tri-county region.

The Edisto Health District, serving Orangeburg, Bamberg and Calhoun counties, has the highest rate in the state of persons infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. There is still, however, no concrete plan to address the needs of populations which HIV seems to ravage the most.

"South Carolina puts no money in prevention other than what the health department gets through the CDC (Centers for Disease Control). You have to have a needs assessment," said Bambi W. Gaddist, executive director of the S.C. African-American HIV/AIDS Coalition.

Gaddist was one of several speakers featured at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' first Community Challenge Conference for HIV Prevention held at The Cinema in Orangeburg Wednesday.

There 135 representatives from area religious, health and legislative institutions gathered to formulate a community response to the explosion of HIV/AIDS and its disparaging effects, particularly among the African-American community.

Gaddist said passive acceptance, an attitude of self blame and a sense of hopelessness are among factors contributing to a lack of community response. Working through a "process rather than a product" to enact personal and social change is among the first steps for the tri-county region, which reported a cumulative total of 1,421 HIV/AIDS cases in the state Department of Heath and Environmental Control's Quarterly Surveillance Report for March 2002.

Gaddist sought community leadership to launch a program to reach "the folks that are not here today." Her plan is to formulate a "Sisters Speak" initiative funded through the Office of Women's Health for African-American women living with HIV/AIDS in Bamberg and Allendale counties. Gaddist is also organizing what she calls a "town hall meeting" among community members and legislative, health and educational leaders to formulate an action plan.

"This community empowerment model should not be taken lightly," Gaddist said.

The Rev. Michael Butler, pastor of the Victory Tabernacle Pentacostal Church in Orangeburg, said his church is already home to an education/resource center through which individuals living with HIV/AIDS are given information on how to access medical care along with transportation.

"We are getting those who are falling through the cracks. I wanted to do something that would really make a difference," Butler said.

Veronica Stephens, HIV prevention program director for the OCAB/Tri-County HIV Prevention Collaboration, said her organization is also working to reach out beyond its walls. She said while a needs assessment is the region's "first and foremost" need, her organization will also be piloting a housing project in 2003 to reach the tri-county region's heterosexual, African-American women between the ages of 15 and 44 with information on HIV/AIDS. The group's detention program will include visiting jails to conduct HIV/AIDS education sessions.

Morris Govan, district health director of DHEC's Edisto Health District, reported that work to develop a comprehensive health improvement plan for the county is continuing. The district's "Turning Point Initiative" includes the support of more than 20 partners from the school, business, civic and government sectors and a $58,000 Turning Point grant.

Orangeburg resident Aletha Morgan, an AIDS activist and educator who is living with the virus, shared her story and the need for the improved dissemination of information to individuals who may be living with the disease. When she became infected in 1993 and was faced with a near deadly bout with pneumonia and skyrocketing medical bills, Morgan said she did not know where she could get assistance with her new diagnosis.

"I was looking for help, but there was nothing out there. We need to take prevention by the helm. What matters is that this virus is in the body and you have to live with it, or you die from it. I have chosen to live with it," Morgan said.

"We really have to focus in on where the disease is taking hold, and it's taking hold in African-American communities and the rural areas of the state," said Dr. George W. Roberts, special assistant for communities of color at the National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention.

"These areas are the ones with the greatest poverty, the least amount of available services ... all ingredients for an even larger problem of HIV and AIDS," he said. "We shouldn't wait until death happens in our families. We should build a community that will protect us from this disease because we don't have to be infected."

While about 40,000 new HIV infections occur each year in the U.S. alone, there has also been a global epidemic of HIV/AIDS. No where is this better demonstrated than in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of AIDS cases far exceeds that of all other geographic regions, Roberts said. Of the estimated 16,000 HIV infections that occur each day worldwide, 7,500 of them occur in sub-Saharan Africa, he said, adding that more than 70 percent of all people infected with HIV live in this region.

Anyone interested in being a part of the town hall meeting or in becoming involved in Sisters Speak is encouraged to contact Gaddist at the SCAAHAC office at 803-254-6644 or 803-779-6661, or by e-mail at bamewame@aol.com.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534.

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