Current television commercials touting medications to manage HIV diagnoses are a sign of how far treatments have come since the early days of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. At that time, this reporter remembers seeing throngs of commuters walking through Grand Central Terminal, wearing surgical face masks, as a self-prescribed [yet unfounded] scientific protective measure against contracting the AIDS virus. In fact, then-Mayor Ed Koch even made public announcements, explaining that the virus was not airborne and that masks were unnecessary.

 

However, it took decades of public awareness campaigns to educate the public about AIDS, along with decades of medical research to find ways to reduce HIV transmission rates, promote health management, and get to today’s manageable levels of the virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 36,801 people received an HIV diagnosis in the United States in 2019. That number represents a decrease of 9 percent in new diagnoses from 2015 to 2019. The CDC notes that “great progress has been made in preventing and treating HIV.”

 

Despite such progress, there are still groups who continue to be disproportionately affected by the virus. Aiming to raise awareness about HIV infection rates, Bronx Borough President Vanessa L. Gibson announced the relaunch of the Bronx LGBTQIA+ Taskforce at an event on April 18, held at the Pelham Parkway office of Destination Tomorrow, the grassroots agency and Bronx LGBTQ+ center, whose main office is located in the South Bronx. The announcement coincided with National Transgender HIV Testing Day.

 

Nationwide, the CDC acknowledges that “Black/African American people are most affected by HIV.” In 2019, they accounted for 42 percent (15,340) of all new HIV diagnoses. Furthermore, “Hispanic/Latino people are also strongly affected” with 29 percent (10,502) of all new HIV diagnoses according to the available research.

 

In a borough with a majority population of Black and Hispanic people, the numbers are worrisome, especially among the transgender community. In a press release issued the day after the media event, Gibson wrote, “Transgender women are estimated to be 49 times more likely to be living with HIV, compared to the general population. Additionally, The Bronx had the second highest number of new HIV diagnoses in 2020, and the highest percentage of HIV deaths.” Gibson was citing figures compiled by New York City Department of Health & Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).

 

The relaunch of the Bronx LGBTQIA+ Taskforce represents a concerted effort to raise more awareness of this concerning trend in HIV infection rates, especially within the transgender community. The goal is to bring together experts, advocates, and community leaders and to improve health outcomes in the communities that have been most affected, which according to the CDC, are “Black/African American people,” who “are most affected by HIV,” and “Hispanic/Latino people” who “are also strongly affected.”

 

Essen Health Care provides a variety of medical options to underserved communities. Dr. Binu Kuriakose is medical director of urgent care with Essen. He urged anyone at risk of exposure to HIV to use the testing services provided by Essen to determine their status, with immediate results being made available. “In terms of HIV testing, our urgent care sites offer rapid HIV testing now,” Kuriakose said.  “Anybody can come in. It’s confidential, it’s fast, it’s reliable, it’s effective and most importantly, as we just discussed, the importance is to find out your status so we can then start treatment.”

 

Dr. Kuriakose further reassured members of the transgender community that in 2022, there was no reason to hide behind a potential wall of shame nor to feel like they should conceal their HIV status. “We’ve come a long, long, long way from when HIV was first discovered, back in 1990,” he said. “Back then, it was considered a quote, unquote ‘death sentence.’ Now, if you find out your status early, we can offer treatment, and everyone is able to live a long and healthy life.”

 

Another community partner involved in improving the rate of HIV infection is Amida Care, a private, nonprofit, specializing in community health for Medicaid members with chronic conditions, including HIV/AIDS and behavioral disorders. Sandrine Blake is assistant director of member events at Amida Care. “Almost half of Amida Care’s members are Bronx residents, and nearly a quarter of our members are of the transgender experience,” Blake said. “Since the COVID pandemic, we have seen that fewer New Yorkers have been getting tested for HIV…. We have access to care. There’s testing vans, there’s testing sites that we need our community to know are available and ready for you.”

 

Local activists are also helping to take the message about testing and treatment out into the streets. Leila Muniz is a trauma informed, care peer navigator with the Damian Family Care Center in Mott Haven. Muniz is also a Bronxite, living with HIV since 2006, and has been a spokesperson with the “HIV Stops With Me” campaign for the past seven years. She’s also an Amida Care member, and encourages others in the trans community to seek the healthcare they deserve, without a sense of guilt or stigma.

 

“[I’m] living, thriving, and surviving, and breaking stigmas,” Muniz, 38, said. “I’m also a woman of trans experience, showing you, here, as well as some of my other fellow sisters and brothers that are in the building, that it is possible to gain employment [and] educate yourself. Be in those influential roles…. You speak your truth.”

 

Mimi Shelton, 28, is director of trans initiatives at Destination Tomorrow. Both Shelton and Muniz spoke about breaking stigmas and how in marginalized communities, for those impacted by HIV, building up a sense of self-worth is part of the process of getting proper health care. Shelton  said those who have been affected by the virus say stereotypes and abusive language can take a toll on a person’s self-awareness. If they’re made to feel worthless, then they’re less likely to feel like their well-being matters.

 

Shelton remembers growing up in Louisa County, Virginia, and hearing decidedly negative views of the transgender population as the norm. “The first two things I learned about what it meant to be gay or what it meant to be trans, was that you were diseased, and you were wrong and unworthy,” Shelton recalled. “I can finally stand here today and tell those in my community that we’re not diseased. We’re not a disease, and we’re not, not worthy. We’re worthy, right. I am enough. You are enough. We’re all enough.”