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American Morning

Number of AIDS Cases No Longer on the Decline

Aired August 13, 2001 - 10:34   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A study is being released that may signal a disturbing trend, even though it looks like it might be good news. For the second year in a row, the number of AIDS-related deaths and new AIDS cases has reached a plateau after years of decline.

CNN medical news correspondent Rea Blakey joins us now from Washington to explain exactly what all this means -- Rea, good morning.

REA BLAKEY, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Leon.

We'll start with an explanation. When special immune system cells drop below -- their CD4 cells -- when they drop the the count of 200, the Centers for Disease Control says a person then has AIDS. Now, the number of AIDS cases, as you mentioned, and the deaths during a two-year period that ended in July of 2000 has remained steady.

Researchers meeting at the second National HIV Prevention Conference say those new figures underscore the urgent need for earlier HIV testing, including reenergizing the fight to prevent HIV in the first place. The CDC's doctor, Helene Gayle, says new studies show continued increase in sexual-risk behavior among men who have sex with men.

And that is among all racial and ethnic groups. Now, experts also say these new figures point out the need to get more at-risk individuals tested and treated earlier in their disease course. An Atlanta-based study shows almost half of low-income African-Americans surveyed did not use a condom during any sexual encounter during the previous two months; 60 percent didn't know the HIV status of their partner.

Now, Leon, the CDC admits the nation faces formidable challenges in its efforts to decrease the rate of AIDS and AIDS deaths.

HARRIS: They're not saying, are they, that the news has got to get worse before people actually pay attention to it and actually follow the advice of the doctors, are they?

BLAKEY: They would love to prevent the news getting any worse. In fact, the CDC launched a program back in February to try and increase awareness of HIV prevention. It focuses on getting people specifically to learn their HIV status. At this point, we're not certain how effective it's been. But that's the effort that is under way, because, after all, if people don't understand it, if they don't know what their status is, they have no idea where they may fall. And many of these people are not finding out they're HIV-positive until they are actually diagnosed with AIDS.

HARRIS: Another case where knowledge is power.

BLAKEY: Right.

HARRIS: Rea Blakey, thank you very much. We'll talk to you some other time. Take care.

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