The Latino Commission on AIDS, the Hispanic Health Network, and other affiliate organizations gathered in Manhattan earlier this week for the third annual Latino Health Advocacy Day, and the groups educated the public about aging HIV-infected Latinos, strategies to engage Latino gay men, disparities and eliminating barriers, and safeguarding the future of young blacks and Latinos.

Basic information on HIV/AIDS education, HIV prevention and HIV testing can be found scattered about the internet. And that stream of knowledge, which addresses signs and symptoms, exposure, risk, diagnosis and management, can be overwhelming for most. However, some bits of information about the lentivirus, HIV, should be hailed above the rest, particularly when the Latino community is concerned.

Medical researchers, healthcare providers and advocacy groups work tirelessly to curb incidents of AIDS/HIV by spreading information throughout low income communities and cutting through the minefield of information with culturally relevant campaigns. This has led to a considerable drop in death rates among HIV-positive Latinos and African Americans. Also, their work could be credited for the potential discovery of a HIV vaccine, which could stomp out the virus and the ensuing fatal autoimmune disease, AIDS.

Dr. Mary Bassett, Commissioner at NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Javier Lopez, Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships and Sustainability at Center for Health Equity; NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Guillermo Chacon, President at Latino Commission on AIDS & founder of Hispanic Health Network; Luis Scaccabarrozzi, Director of Health Policy & Advocacy at Latino Commission on AIDS, and many others were present at the event, which sought to bring attention to important HIV/AIDS facts.

Facts included: 27 percent of Latinos live below the poverty line; Latinos are the most uninsured; Latinos are the most disconnected from medical providers; 30 percent of Latinos report only "fair" or "poor" health; and Latinos are the most affected by preventable diseases and conditions, such as diabetes, stomach and liver cancer, asthma, obesity, hepatitis C and HIV.

Young men who have sex with men lead when it comes the proportions of those who are newly infected with HIV, and the contraction rate for those 13-24 years old rose 26 percent among Latinos in 2010, despite only representing 17 percent of the population. For this reason, young black men and Latino men who have sex with other men bear the burden of increasing infection rates. The fact that many are unaware of their HIV status is partnered with stigma, homophobia and discrimination, which impacts mental health. Also, research suggests that educational levels, language barriers and low economic status is closely associated with knowledge about HIV testing and treatment.

"The challenge is lack of education, which translates to a lack of knowledge about the risk factors, exactly how HIV is transmitted, or what precautions you have to take," Myriam E. Torres, PhD, MSPH who is a clinical assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics and director for the Consortium for Latino Immigration Studies in the Arnold School of Public Health, said to Latin Post.

"These are some of the challenges, and also in Latinos, as far as I know, heterosexual transmission is growing, meaning that in many cases, they think if they have one partner, they don't need to protect themselves, not realizing that sometimes their partner has other partners," Torres added. "The woman doesn't know, and that is the risk for Latinas. In the whole country, Latinas have a HIV rate that's almost four times the rate of white women. Latinos, male and female, represent 21 percent of new HIV infections."

While white men also engage in high-risk behaviors (risky sex and drug use), multiple studies indicate that infection rates among Latinos and blacks can be attributed to frequency, the number of sexual partners, and a lack of education about the disease.

Director Luis Scaccabarrozzi spoke with Latin Post, sharing the most vital takeaways from the Latino Health Advocacy Day. He discussed Mary Basset's focus on health disparities facing Latinos as well as her newly formed center for health equity. Scaccabarrozzi brought attention to Javier Lopez's efforts to coordinate new initiatives to decrease health disparities within communities of color, and to promote collaborations throughout the city of New York. He also brought attention to representative agencies, barriers and challenges, and how culture and influence are a part of the social health paradigm.

"Dennis deLeon, former president of the Latino Commission on AIDS, passed away about five years ago, and it was his dream to organize health briefings, which we called the 'Latino Health Needs,' where we weren't just talking about HIV or hepatitis, we were talk about all of the other health disparities that hinder the Latino community, many of which are connected to language," Scaccabarrozzi said.

Latinos have many barriers when it comes to care. The community possesses the highest number of individuals without insurance, much of that having to do with the undocumented population, but Latinos tend to omit their care in many other ways.

HIV is weighed down with stigmas, which make the public believe that the threat only belongs to the high-risk groups for HIV (the LGBTQ community, drug users, etc.). True, these are the groups that are most impacted by HIV, and they carry barriers and challenges, but these groups are far from the only communities to be affected by those health issues.

"We talked about the transgender community, we talked about hepatitis, and people found barriers ... some of the situations that we see in NYC is transgendered individuals are at a much higher risk for HIV and Hepatitis C. The prevalence rate is 16 percent, which is 14 times that of the average American, and four times that of white transgendered, and two time African American transgendered," said Scaccabarrozzi. "HIV prevalence rates are higher among transgendered, but that's because they're exposed to greater risks. The use of hormones might put their bodies at additional risk for HIV. Also many can't find employment, so some turn to prostitution."

The barriers and the challenges are real. However, despite the presence of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, death rates have declined. Scaccabarrozzi credits the principled outreach of advocacy groups, and Dr. Torres credits an upsurge in treatment participation. According to her, people are living longer because of treatment options, which was not the case years before.

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