Thread: State and Local Leaders Call for Action on Alarming New Lati

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stori ... 688&EDATE=

Day Laborers, Crystal Meth Emerge on Latino HIV Prevention Agenda

SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 21 /PRNewswire/ -- With new data revealing
surprising numbers of day laborers engaging in unsafe sex for money and a
spiraling crystal meth crisis among Latino men, AIDS advocates today pressed
state lawmakers to re-focus state HIV prevention efforts in response to
disproportionate growth in new cases of HIV and AIDS among California's
Latinos.
"We're calling on Sacramento to increase and re-deploy resources to fight
new infection trends," said Oscar De La O, President and CEO of BIENESTAR, the
state's largest Latino HIV/AIDS service organization. "Proven new strategies
like innovative mobile units with rapid HIV tests need Sacramento's support if
we're going to begin to break the chain of infection in our community," said
De La O at a special legislative briefing in the state capitol supported by
the California State Latino Legislative Caucus, Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez
and Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez.
"It's not common knowledge that Latinos now make up most of Los Angeles
County's AIDS cases, or that a majority of Latinas with HIV have not engaged
in risky behavior yet still end up being infected with HIV," said
Assemblywoman Montanez, who sits on the Assembly Health Committee and
represents the San Fernando Valley. She adds, "In addition to making sure
Sacramento leads on the issue, we need to ensure Latino media and local
leaders are speaking out and rallying our community to prevent more
infections."
Today's hearing focused in part on two dramatic new studies: One on
high-risk sexual behaviors of day laborers, and the other on increased risk
created by crystal methamphetamine abuse among young Latino men. Dr. Frank
Galvan, a research investigator with Charles R. Drew University of Medicine
and Science who spoke at the briefing, said, "Many day laborers are being
approached for sex and a significant number are engaging in high risk
behavior. We need to provide more HIV prevention education, especially to day
laborers with lower education and those who are drug dependent."
Day laborers had not previously been regarded as a group at high risk for
HIV, but a 2005 study conducted by Charles Drew University and BIENESTAR of
450 Latino immigrant day laborers found 38% reported they had been approached
for sex, of which almost 10% participated in sexual activities. "About
three-fourths of those engaging in sex reported unsafe practices," said
Galvan, who noted that the study focused on six hiring sites in Los Angeles
where websites indicated day laborers could be sought for sexual activity.
"We went to those six day laborer sites, and asked if they had been approached
for sex by another man in the context of their work as day laborers," said
Galvan. He also reported that day laborers who were more likely to have sex
tended to also experience drug dependency, have lower education levels, and
had been day laborers for longer periods of time (five or more years).
The hearing also focused on surprisingly high levels of crystal
methamphetamine use among newly diagnosed HIV-positive Latino men. Researcher
Trista Bingham of Los Angeles County's HIV Epidemiology Program reported that
"after adjusting for other traditional risk factors, newly diagnosed
HIV-positive Latino men who have sex with men were almost 9 times more likely
to report crystal use than men without HIV." The study, which included over
1500 participants of all race and ethnic groups over twelve months, found that
crystal use was highest among Latinos (20%), and that crystal was associated
with higher prevalence of unprotected anal intercourse and with newly
diagnosed HIV. "To prevent new HIV infections among Latinos, a reduction in
the use of crystal must be a central focus," said Bingham.

About BIENESTAR:
BIENESTAR is committed to enhancing the health and well-being of the
Latino community and other underserved communities. BIENESTAR accomplishes
this through community education, prevention, mobilization, advocacy, and the
provision of direct social support services.

And California tax payers are supposed to pay for this??

Best solution. Put them on the bus and send them home!

My question is who the heck is approaching these guys for sex? Ewww! Gross!

I'm with you, Arizona. Gross!!

Dirty old white men, the same ones that are bankrolling their invasion.

Where's Workplace Watchdog when you REALLY need him?