Youth, drugs, HIV concern S.F. health chief

Overall, The City is in good shape, but problems exist, she tells
supervisors

Gregory Lewis
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

San Francisco residents generally enjoy good health with plenty of
physicians, medical specialists and researchers, but city health
officials worry about the welfare of children and youth, drug abuse, and
a continuing high rate of HIV infection.

That's the assessment city Health Director Dr. Sandra Hernandez gave in
her State of The City public health address Monday before the Board of
Supervisors.

Hernandez said the city had about 5,370 physicians, specialists and
researchers, or one for every 140 residents. But problems remain.

For example, immunizations for 2yearold children are far below The
City's 90 percent goal. Hepatitis A infection doubled among youth from
1994 to 1995, to a rate of 100 per 100,000. Homicide remains the leading
cause of death for those aged 15 to 24.

Hernandez estimated that 4,700 youth aged 1326 were HIVpositive and
that 36 percent of The City's youth had contemplated suicide.

Health officials also fear more people contracting HIV, the virus that
causes AIDS.

"We still have an AIDS epidemic," she said. "The candlelight march is
evidence of that. We have to do more on the preventive side."

Health officials say young gay men still are engaging in highrisk
activities, leading to 900 newly HIVinfected individuals each year.

One in 25 people, an estimated 28,000 San Franciscans, is HIVpositive.
Another 7,700 people are living with AIDS.

In response, city officials are supporting needle exchanges, condom
distribution, easier access to AIDS drugs, a postexposure HIV
prophylaxis program and a centralized registration and information
system.

As for drug abuse, San Francisco leads the nation in the number of
heroin and methamphetamine emergency room admissions and leads the state
in the number of drugrelated deaths: 20.4 per 100,000 residents.

Meanwhile, 1,300 drug users seeking treatment are turned away daily for
lack of space.

The mayor and some supervisors have championed treatment on demand.

Hernandez also warned that changes in welfare laws threatened to
undermine The City's health prevention programs and could create a
crisis for The City's uninsured. About 16 percent of the population is
now uninsured, but another 14 percent covered under MediCal faces
eligibility restrictions.

Hernandez played down recent concerns about lead in city school drinking
fountains, saying that running the water cleared the lead from the
faucets.

"In order for it to be a real toxicity problem," she said, "a child
would have to be the first one drinking from the fountain and would have
to get repeated drinks to have a problem."

A child is more likely to suffer lead poisoning from the soil or paint
chips in an old building, she said.