The Edisto Health District, serving Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties, has the highest rate in the state of people infected with HIV/AIDS.

Blacks account for 30 percent of South Carolina's population but represent three-quarters of the HIV/AIDS cases in the state.

According to a 2008 surveillance report from the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, Orangeburg County ranks number five among the state's 46 counties in the incidence of AIDS infection and number three with its rate of HIV infection.

One Orangeburg church is reaching out to area youths to try to curb the spread of what is quickly becoming an epidemic, particularly in the black community.

Mount Pisgah Baptist Church will hold its second HIV/AIDS Youth Awareness Conference from 8:15 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, May 16, in the F.G.S. Everett Educational Building on 310 Green St. The conference will target 8- to 18-year-olds. Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m.

The free event will address issues surrounding self-esteem, gang violence, teen pregnancy, drug use and other sexually transmitted diseases as it pertains to their impact on the lives of youths.

Horace Britton, health ministries coordinator at Mount Pisgah, said the church received a grant from the nonprofit, Columbia-based S.C. HIV/AIDS Council under its initiative, Project FAITH, or Fostering AIDS Initiatives That Heal.

"We need to reach out to the youth," he said. "According to statistics, half of all youth will contract an STD by the time they're 25, which puts them at high risk for HIV/AIDS. So, it's important that we educate the youth about HIV/AIDS and the risky behaviors associated with contracting it."

Britton said an array of keynote speakers, breakout sessions, food, door prizes and entertainment will all be available during the event.

Charleston resident Nataila Cales, who is living with AIDS, will be the keynote speaker for the event. Other speakers include Lt. Samuel Jenkins of the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety; Marie Artis, associate professor of sociology at South Carolina State University; Quintilla Haigler, pregnancy prevention program director at The Family Health Center Inc.; Willie Simon, health educator at The Changes Clinic, and Aaron Bryan, HIV/AIDS coordinator with the state Department of Education's Healthy Schools Program.

"There's definitely a need to educate our children as to preventive methods if they're (sexually) active," said Evangelist Deloris McClain, one of the event coordinators. "They also need to know the importance of getting tested."

Registration is limited to 100 participants, and individuals are asked to RSVP by Monday, May 4. For more information on the conference, call 803-347-7753, Britton at 803-531-3136 or the church at 803-536-1547.

T&D Staff Writer Dionne Gleaton can be reached by e-mail at dgleaton@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5534. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

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