Dismayed by the results of a recent study that show nearly half of gay black and bisexual men surveyed in five major cities are HIV-positive, gay black leaders recently issued an open letter and met with high-level officials from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

More than 70 gay black leaders from around the country participated in the meeting Aug. 29-31 in Atlanta, which was sponsored by the CDC. The federal health agency released the study in June.

Phill Wilson, chief executive officer of the Black AIDS Institute in Los Angeles, attended the event and noted the enormity of the CDC statistics in an “open letter” to gay black and bisexual men published after the figures were released.

Posted June 12 on the Black AIDS Institute’s Web site, the letter portrayed the disease as “genocide,” noting the CDC calculated 46 percent of black men who have sex with men were HIV-positive. The date was obtained from Baltimore, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City and San Francisco.

The letter — titled “Nearly Half of Us May Already Be Infected. Who Gives a Damn?” — was signed by 50 gay African Americans from around the country who vowed to bring the issue to light.

“I was shocked there wasn’t any reaction from anyone,” Wilson said, explaining why he posted the letter. “Not from the black community, gay community or straight community. This data demanded front page coverage.”

Wilson said a total lack of interest in an entire segment of the population was inexcusable.

“It’s critically important to understand the data,” he said. “Many people are taking from this data that gay blacks are engaging in riskier behavior, but that’s not the case. HIV prevention in the black community was delayed, which is why there’s higher incidence.”

Much of the blame for failing to reach out to black gay men falls on the CDC, according to Wilson.

“The prevention program was designed for gay white men, and we were told to make it work for gay black men,” he said. “It didn’t.”

In 1994, a CDC study found 21 percent of black men who have sex with men were infected with HIV. Six years later, the number had risen to 30 percent, according to the CDC. The latest study shows the figure approaching 50 percent.

“We recognize that this is not business as usual,” said Ron Valdiserri, CDC deputy director for HIV, STD & TB prevention. “As a nation we need to take a serious look at the state, local and community level. That’s why we called this meeting.”

‘Not one … solution’
In 2001, the CDC adopted a strategic five-year HIV prevention plan with the goal of cutting annual U.S. infections in half by 2005. Valdiserri said last week the effort was not a failure.

“One thing I want to make clear is this was not just the CDC’s plan,” Valdiserri said. “There was input from government, people who were HIV-positive and AIDS advocates. Have we reduced new infections by half? No. Is the program a failure? No.

“We understand this epidemic is complicated and changing over time. We’ve modified our research to understand the high rate of infections in the black community,” he said.

Valdiserri said he understands the frustration among those who attended the recent meeting in Atlanta, but the CDC cannot turn the tide of new infections among African Americans without help. A vast majority of the agency’s $350 million budget for prevention planning goes to state and local health departments, he said.

“There’s not one single, simple solution,” Valdiserri said. “We can’t just flip a switch and say today we’re going to do it this way.”

‘Where’s the urgency?’
Keith Boykin, a black gay author and activist who attended the conference, was equally critical of the CDC.

“One of the panelists asked [CDC Director Julie Gerberding] if she could make a commitment to respond to our recommendations in a certain time frame,” Boykin said. “She said she couldn’t do that. Where’s the urgency?”

The agency lacks the proper mindset to combat the problem among black gay and bisexual men, according to Boykin.

“I don’t think the people running these programs can reach the community it needs to reach,” he said. “There is this belief that more education will change these numbers. But we need to change the whole mentality. Some people are consciously choosing to have unprotected sex.”

Although Atlanta was not included in the latest CDC sampling, there is no reason to believe the city’s infection rate is any less, said Craig Washington, volunteer and training coordinator for Positive Impact, an HIV advocacy group in Atlanta.

“I don’t need to seek numbers from Atlanta to know we’re impacted,” said Washington, who like many conference attendees remains concerned over whether the CDC can effectively address the issue.

“I have a wait and see approach. To be honest, I was disappointed. We are the most affected group with the least amount of research and there are still no firm commitments,” he said.

Washington noted two aspects that have to change for any measurable success: a greater focus on mental health services and the means to “speak the language.”

“Black men who have sex with men need greater support,” he said. “If we are going to reduce rates among young blacks we need to engage them in the language they use.”

Among the recommendations presented to the CDC were the establishment of an office dedicated to gay black health issues and challenging the agency to reduce HIV among gay blacks by 50 percent in the next five years.

On a national level, recommendations called for President George W. Bush to speak on World AIDS Day, Dec. 1, about the HIV crisis among black gay men, and mandating the president’s AIDS advisory panel address the issue immediately.

Valdiserri said the CDC is reviewing the recommendations and he promised the group an update in September.

Andrew Keegan can be reached at akeegan@sovo.com.