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News (Media Awareness Project) - US DE: AIDS Hits The Street On Inmates' Release
Title:US DE: AIDS Hits The Street On Inmates' Release
Published On:2005-09-26
Source:News Journal (DE)
Fetched On:2008-08-19 18:46:24
AIDS HITS THE STREET ON INMATES' RELEASE

WILMINGTON -- Along some sections of Fourth Street in Delaware's
largest city, prostitutes and drug addicts mix with young families --
Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, whites and African-Americans. More than any
neighborhood, this is the state's melting pot.

It's also where HIV spreads at epidemic rates, where people with skin
lesions and open sores are turning tricks and ex-cons from Delaware's
prison system -- one of the worst in the country for AIDS-related
deaths -- come to hang out.

"They say they use condoms, but they cost money -- ain't no condom
when you're looking for a fix," said Robert Rodriguez, owner of
Rodriguez Hot Stylz, a clothing store on Fourth Street. His daughter
Jessica, who just turned 21, sells Italian Ice from the store's window.

"I am nervous," Jessica said. "You never know who has it (AIDS) and
who doesn't."

Spanish is the language of the street here. Lunchtime smells of fried
pork, rice and plantains. There are good sections. And bad.

Israel Gonzalez, who moved from Puerto Rico to Wilmington 20 years
ago, said he has no problem with people who have AIDS, unless they
keep it a secret from their sexual partners.

Then, he said in Spanish, "They are assassins."

Delaware's AIDS rate of 26.1 cases per 100,000 people far exceeds the
national rate of 15.2 per 100,000, according to a Kaiser Family
Foundation report released this month. It's based on 2003 numbers,
the latest available.

Transmission of the virus occurred most frequently through
intravenous drug use. About 43 percent of all Delaware AIDS cases
were caused by IV drug use.

Male homosexual sex, the second leading cause, accounted for 32
percent of the state's AIDS cases, followed by heterosexual contact,
which accounted for 15 percent of cases.

More than 40 percent of the state's HIV and AIDS cases were in
Wilmington. Many of the cases are prisoners or former prisoners, who
are spreading the virus.

Neighborhoods At Risk

On a recent day in Riverside, the Rev. Vincent Oliver is watching
kids run inside the Kingswood Community Center for an after-school
program. On the next block, dealers are slinging heroin. Behind
Kingswood, a safe haven in a decaying neighborhood on the city's east
side, kids are playing basketball. From there, you can see Gander Hill prison.

AIDS is hitting this community hard, said Oliver, Kingswood's
executive director.

"We're aware there are health issues coming out of the prison," he
said. "Inmates are bringing hepatitis and AIDS back into our
community. I hold the prison system accountable. They should be
screening these people upon exit and working with their families and
significant others. I know it's not popular, but it has to be done."

Renee Beaman, a registered nurse and executive director of Beautiful
Gate Outreach Center in downtown Wilmington, receives former inmates
infected with HIV referred to her center. And she has no doubt
they've "caused our rates in Delaware to increase."

Cons With AIDS

Oliver Ash knew he had AIDS when he arrived at Gander Hill late last
year. But Ash didn't want anyone to know -- even if it meant missing
his medications and getting sicker.

"I was scared," Ash said.

But that didn't stop him from having unprotected sex with his cellmate.

Eventually, the prison's medical staff found out he had AIDS and sent
him to the infirmary. Ash, in prison for driving with a suspended
license, was released after pleading guilty and paying a fine.

Ash, 42, recently talked about his struggle with drugs and the virus
while sitting in Stapler Park, near Trolley Square in Wilmington.

He believes he has been living with HIV for almost 20 years.

Ash suspects he became infected in the Army, while stationed in
Korea, where he says he had unprotected sex with prostitutes. It
wasn't until his brother died of AIDS in 1999 that Ash began trying
to take better care of himself.

While Ash was in the Gander Hill infirmary, the nurses were unable to
find out from his regular doctors what medicines he was supposed to
be taking. By the time Ash was released, he had missed nearly two
weeks of antiviral treatment -- the sort of lapse that can cause
mutations in the virus.

"There are so many things I've done," he said. "I don't know if I'm
going to heaven."

The narcissistic and impulsive behaviors that are common among some
inmates lead to higher rates of infection, said Dr. Carol A. Tavani,
a psychiatrist who has worked in Delaware's prisons.

"That's part of a criminal mentality," she said. "They don't think of
the other guy. They simply think about their needs or wants."

Sex between prisoners, which is illegal in Delaware, is just one way
HIV can thrive inside prison. Tattooing with dirty implements --
guitar strings, safety pins or pens -- is another. Heroin and
needles, smuggled inside, are also vehicles for infection. The prison
- -- an incubator for mutations -- also serves as the breeding ground
for new HIV cases outside prison.

"When people go in they don't know they have it," Robert Rodriguez
said. "They come out, have sex with females, next thing they find out
they have it and so does she."

His family has seen the nastiness. Rodriguez knows one woman who
found out she was HIV-positive in prison.

"She's still active -- hooking with AIDS," he said. "It's
frightening. Somebody gotta let people know."

Controlling The Problem

Estella Moody of Wilmington, who lost two brothers to AIDS, said more
programs are needed to fight the spread of the virus.

"I try to stay educated," said Moody, who talks to her 13-year-old
daughter about the virus. "She's not sexually active, and I hope she
stays that way until she gets out of college."

Controlling Delaware's AIDS problem has been difficult:

*Long waits for residential drug treatment are common.

*Delaware's poor areas have doctor shortages.

*Delaware has no program that allows addicts to trade used needles
for clean ones -- an exchange that has reduced HIV rates in other
places, such as New York City. The percentage of New York City's
HIV-positive population who were IV drug users dropped from 50
percent to between 12 percent and 18 percent.

*Agencies serving high-risk populations in Wilmington struggle for
state funding.

Michael Hollaway is a counselor at Beautiful Gate. Three times a
week, he walks around Wilmington passing out pamphlets and
encouraging HIV testing.

Recently, he stopped to explain to a man that HIV could be
transferred through breast milk and blood-to-blood contact.

"I didn't know you could get it that way," said Victor Beltran. "A
couple of years ago, I was doing some crazy things. I got drunk, high
and I did crazy [stuff]."

Hollaway estimated about 25 percent of those he talks to get tested.

Getting The News

Of the nearly 14,000 who were tested last year at Delaware
community-based centers such as Beautiful Gate, 142 tested positive
for the virus, according to the Delaware HIV Consortium.

Those diagnosed are encouraged to get immediate treatment.

Although there has been no study on how Delaware inmates affect the
state's AIDS rate, the founder of a Wilmington health education
agency said she sees a strong connection.

"It has mass ramifications on the community," said Alyson Lang,
executive director of Each One Teach One. "Once they get out, they
take their particular strain out into the community.

"In terms of the American culture, it has always been accepted that
men have more partners. So one man comes out and infects, what, 10
women? It's an outrage," said Lang, who works with former prisoners.
"The one at home ... is the one I worry about because she's going to
be the one most trustworthy."
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