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FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE
ON HIV PREVENTION IN RURAL AREAS
WILL INCLUDE MISS AMERICA 1998
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The first national conference on rural HIV prevention will be held March 12-14 at the University Place Conference Center and Hotel at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. The conference, titled "HIV Prevention in Rural Communities: Sharing Successful Strategies," is for public health professionals and will feature a keynote address by Kate Shindle, Miss America 1998.
The conference will mark the first time public health experts from across the county have come together to share strategies for preventing HIV that are aimed at the specific needs and characteristics of diverse rural populations.
Recent studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other institutions show that HIV and AIDS cases are now rising faster in rural areas than in metropolitan areas. About 60,000 people in the United States were diagnosed with AIDS in 1997, bringing the cumulative total of AIDS cases at the end of 1997 to more than 641,000.
"The high incidence of HIV/STD indicates that Americans, particularly those in rural areas, continue to practice risky behaviors," said William Yarber, senior director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention (RCAP), a joint project of Indiana University and Purdue University. "One recent study of rural residents indicated that about one-half of the HIV-infected men and about two-thirds of the HIV-infected women did not believe they could become infected prior to their diagnosis. Another study found that the percentage of rural residents reporting a reduction in risky behavior in response to the AIDS epidemic was substantially lower than urban or suburban populations reporting a reduction."
The conference is sponsored by RCAP, CDC and the Levi Strauss Foundation.
RCAP, located on the IU Bloomington campus, began operations in 1994 with the goal of reducing HIV/STD incidence in rural communities. The center develops and evaluates educational materials and techniques; studies behavioral and social barriers to HIV/STD prevention; and provides prevention resources to professionals and the public.
One highlight of the conference will be the keynote address on March 13 by Kate Shindle, Miss America 1998, who spent her year of service as Miss America traveling 20,000 miles a month on a national speaking tour to describe the hazards and prevention of HIV transmission. Her experiences have resulted in meetings with distinguished leaders ranging from President Clinton to Dr. Luc Montaigner, the scientist who discovered the AIDS virus. She was the first Miss America to take her national platform to Geneva, Switzerland, where she was invited by Donna Shalala, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, to moderate a panel discussion on women and AIDS at the 12th Annual World AIDS Conference.
"We have within our power the ability to stop HIV in its tracks," Shindle said. "The answer is prevention, and it is the only solution to this deadly epidemic until a vaccine and a cure can be found. Without question, prevention is wholly effective in stopping the spread of HIV, and its power must not be ignored."
Other featured speakers from across the country will include experts from colleges and universities, from HIV/AIDS education and outreach programs, and from CDC. In all, the panelists and presenters represent more than 20 states from California to New York. The presentations will include, for example, "Hope for Rural Communities: A Grassroots Model," "HIV and the Migrant/Seasonal Agriculture Population," "Operation Teddy Bear: HIV/AIDS Prevention Education in Rural Elementary Schools," and "Business Responds to AIDS/Labor Responds to AIDS Programs."
For more information on the conference, or on AIDS/STD in rural areas, contact Yarber at 812-855-7974, http://www.indiana.edu/~aids
(Jeffrey Austin, 812-855-0084, jeaustin@indiana.edu)