http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wual/local-wual-946973.mp3
Tuscaloosa, Alabama – Best Public Affairs
Alabama Public Radio
Aired July 13-16, 2010
In Alabama, the infection rate for HIV and AIDS is as bad now as it was in 1985, when the disease was it's height in the United States. Alabama Public Radio examined the reasons for the spread of virus, the groups who are hardest hit, and what's being done to combat the illness in our State.
In part one of "AIDS in Alabama," reporter Alisa Beckwith-Ayilliath investigates shrinking federal funding for AIDS prevention, treatment, and education in Alabama, even though the infection is as bad now as when the disease was doing the most damage in the U.S. in the 1980's.
In part two, Alisa begins her look into the two demographic groups hardest hit by AIDS in Alabama, which is people over the age of 50. The trend is caused by women past their child-bearing years, who place less emphasis on protection during sex, and men who remain sexually active due to medications like Viagra. Experts say this leaves women in their senior years especially vulnerable to infection. We meet "Monica," a Birmingham woman in her 60's, who suffers from AIDS, and is uncertain from which sexual partner she contracted the illness.
In part three, Alisa continues her examination of groups most impacted by Alabama's AIDS crisis by looking at African American women. She visits an AIDS education and outbreak program which tries to educate black women on how the virus is spread. The story also touches on the reluctance of black church leaders who are reluctant to speak out on AIDS prevention. The concern is over black men who are sexually active "on the down low," where straight men have sex with other men, but claim not to be gay.