Hopefully, this reality can someday be reversed and obliterated like the Black Plague. To accomplish this, we need more education, stronger relationships between healthcare providers and the community, and most importantly, we need to reach our youth. In reaching this new vision we must realize that heterosexual African American women are leading the rise in new infections of the HIV virus. Miami has the third highest rate of HIV infections in the nation, and one out of every 50 blacks in Florida has HIV, with the Hispanic infection rate steadily rising. Many of the newly diagnosed HIV-positive clients have difficulty with change.
Most clients are fast to shelter themselves away from others and from normal activity.
The best way to address this problem is to offer more social activities. Make contacts with the community liaisons of the different professional sports teams in your area, family activity spots like the movies, bowling, etc. and then provide a calendar of events for the clients. These are some ways of empowering these clients, because all clients should have access to every educational, preventive or financial tool available. One of the reasons is that men have not been at the front of the conversation of prevention. Most of the efforts have focused on women and babies.