
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 30, 1994                   TAG: 9408020010
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By LESLIE TAYLOR STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HARD-TO-REACH GROUPS TARGET OF AIDS PANEL

A state committee working to step up efforts to educate Virginians about HIV and AIDS is sweeping the state for two weeks, gathering citizen input on HIV prevention.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - which funds state HIV/AIDS awareness programs - now mandates that each state develop a community planning committee representing populations most affected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The committees must develop recommendations to be incorporated in state funding requests for HIV prevention programs.

The 31 members of the Virginia HIV Prevention Community Planning Committee, appointed several months ago, include people with HIV or AIDS, health care providers and people from the church community. Martha Lees, a sexually transmitted/epidemiology program representative for the Roanoke and Alleghany health districts, is the sole committee member from the Roanoke area.

About 40 people attended a committee public hearing - the second of seven statewide hearings - at the downtown Roanoke Library this week. Many people voiced concerns that paralleled those of committee members, Lees said.

"We have the same concerns that people have spoken about - specifically, educating adolescents, people of color and hard-to-reach groups that need to be reached through less traditional means," Lees said.

Elaine Martin, coordinator of sexually transmitted disease/AIDS education, information and training for the Virginia Department of Health, said people have urged that prevention efforts target substance abusers and "people we don't usually have access to - drug users on the street and other substance abusers, such as crack addicts."

The committee is expected to present its recommendations to the Health Department in September. The recommendations will be included in the department's application for funding from the Centers for Disease Control. Previously, funding requests were developed solely by the department staff.

Last year, Virginia received $2.9 million in HIV prevention money from the Centers for Disease Control. It has been used for confidential counseling and testing, minority outreach, counseling and testing of drug users in treatment programs, and public awareness - hot lines, pamphlets, brochures and posters, Martin said.

by CNB