Report: Black U.S. AIDS rates rival some African nations

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) — The AIDS epidemic among African-Americans in some parts of the United States is as severe as in parts of Africa, according to a report out Tuesday.

“AIDS in America today is a black disease,” says Phill Wilson, founder of the Black AIDS institute.

“Left Behind – Black America: A Neglected Priority in the Global AIDS” is intended to raise awareness and remind the public that the “AIDS epidemic is not over in America, especially not in Black America,” says the report, published by the Black AIDS Institute, an HIV/AIDS think tank focused exclusively on African-Americans.

“AIDS in America today is a black disease,” says Phill Wilson, founder and CEO of the institute and himself HIV-positive for 20 years. “2006 CDC data tell us that about half of the just over 1 million Americans living with HIV or AIDS are black.”

Although black people represent only about one in eight Americans, one in every two people living with HIV in the United States is black, the report notes.

The report uses just-released data from UNAIDS and existing CDC and Census data to highlight grim statistics:

• AIDS remains the leading cause of death among black women between ages 25 and 34. It’s the second-leading cause of death in black men 35-44.

• In Washington, more than 80 percent of HIV cases are among black people, that’s one in 20 residents.

“Five percent of the entire population (in DC) is infected… that’s comparable to countries like Uganda or South Africa,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN for the recent “Black in America” documentary.

According to this report, if black Americans made up their own country, it would rank above Ethiopia (420,000 to 1,300,000) and below Ivory Coast (750,000) in HIV population. Both Ethiopia and the Ivory Coast are among the 15 nations receiving funds from the President’s Emergency Plan For Aids Relief. The United States has given about $15 billion to PEPFAR nations in the past five years.

The Black AIDS Institute says it’s not criticizing the federal government for helping poorer countries cope with the AIDS epidemic. Rather, it’s saying the “AIDS epidemic [in the U.S.] is not getting the kind attention that it merits.”

“We understand the needs of black folk in Johannesburg (South Africa),” Wilson says. “Why can’t we understand the needs of them in Jackson, Mississippi? We understand the needs in Nigeria or Botswana, why not understand the needs of Los Angeles or Oakland?”

Wilson says more needs to be done to prevent the spread of HIV in this country. The report states that the U.S. government “increased spending on HIV prevention, treatment and support programs for low-income countries dramatically, at the same time that domestic remained all but flat.”

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, domestic prevention efforts make up the smallest part of the HIV/AIDs budget, the 2009 budget request includes $892 million for domestic HIV prevention efforts, the same as in 2008.

In this report, Wilson and others urge the federal government and private foundations to significantly increase funding for HIV prevention and treatment programs. The report also calls on international agencies to hold the U.S. government accountable for failure to address HIV/AIDS epidemic in its own country (despite lauding it for its PEPFAR efforts). It also urges black communities in the United States to fight the stigma and overcome prejudice associated with being infected with HIV.

“Peggy” found out 10 years ago that she was HIV positive. The fact that she’s asked us to not use her real name is an example of the stigma that’s still attached to having the virus that causes AIDS, especially in the African-American community.

“I don’t really talk to many other people about it, ’cause I guess maybe, they don’t want to talk,” says the 27-year-old Lake Charles, Louisiana, woman. Others like her, she says, are still too ashamed to admit they have HIV.

Marvelyn Brown, 24, of Washington, is more open about her status. She learned she had HIV when she was only 19, after one time of unprotected sex while in a monogamous relationship.

Brown has told her story in a book, “The Naked Truth, ” and to CNN in last week’s special report, “Black in America.” She regularly addresses community groups, trying to help educate blacks about the risk of of HIV and AIDS.

The report was funded by the Ford Foundation and the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

47 dead, 100 missing in Congo boat accident

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — Officials say a motorized boat has sunk in Congo, killing at least 47 people. Some 100 people are missing.

District Commissioner Mathieu Modeste Bella said that 47 bodies had been recovered from the Ubangi River in the Central African nation. Twenty-seven survivors were helped to shore.

Bella says the boat was carrying at least 182 passengers, mostly merchants but also women and children.

The boat went down on Tuesday after it left the Congo town of Mobayi Bongo. The boat was headed for Central African Republic.

Because of the bad shape of roads, many people prefer to take the small boats even if they do not know how to swim.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai Shake Hands on Deal

Zimbabwe’s principal political protagonists, Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai, have signed an agreement which establishes a framework for substantive negotiations to end the country’s political crisis.

South African foreign affairs spokesman, Ronnie Mamoepa, confirmed this in a statement issued from Harare Monday.

“The agreement was signed by President Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and [opposition leader] Arthur Mutambara,” Mamoepa said.

South Africa’s President Thabo Mbeki, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) facilitator of talks, flew to Harare on Monday morning for the signing ceremony.

Mamoepa described the “Memorandum of Understanding” signed by the three leaders as “a positive step forward in the ongoing dialogue among the parties.”

The impetus for the final breakthrough in the “talks about talks” which have been conducted over recent weeks appears to have beena decission on Friday to set up a “reference group,” comprising African Union, United Nations and SADC diplomats with whom Mbeki will liaise. Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change has repeatedly challenged Mbeki’s impartiality.

Zimbabwe introduces $100 billion banknotes

HARARE, Zimbabwe (CNN) — Zimbabwe’s troubled central bank introduced new $100 billion banknotes Saturday in a desperate bid to ease the recurrent cash shortages plaguing the inflation-ravaged economy.

The new bills officially come into circulation Monday, although they were already on the foreign currency dealers market Saturday.

As high as they are, though, the new bills still aren’t enough to buy a loaf of bread. They can only buy four oranges.

The new note is equal to just one U.S. dollar

Once-prosperous Zimbabwe has seen an unprecedented economic meltdown since it gained independence in 1980, with the official inflation rate now at 2.2 million percent.

Gideon Gono, governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, said the new notes are for “the convenience of the banking public and corporate sector” in light of price hikes.

“The RBZ has noted with concern the unjustifiable and incessant general increases in prices of goods and services. It is therefore appealing to the business community to follow ethical business practices as well as take an interest in the plight of the general public,” Gono said in a statement dated Friday.

Zimbabwe started issuing large banknotes in December, starting with denominations of $250,000.

In January, the government issued bills in denominations of $1 million, $5 million, and $10 million — and in May, it issued bills from $25 million and $50 million up to $25 billion and $50 billion.

The new bills are actually bearer checks and have an expiration date of December 31. Zimbabwe has not had formal currency since the introduction of bearer checks as a temporary measure in 2003.

“The RBZ is fighting a losing battle,” said economist John Robertson in Harare. “As long as the inflation remains high, cash shortages will persist. There is need to address the inflation by increasing production so that too goods do not (cost) a lot of money.”