Recent research has noted an increase in the amount of HIV infections among black male college students in North Carolina, and officials believe this trend extends throughout the southern United States.
The study was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. The research linked the rise in HIV cases to young men having unprotected sex with other men.
North Carolina scholars are predicting the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, among black college men in all southern states, which could affect the University.
In the past, college students were not considered to be at a high risk of contracting HIV.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention found a very low infection rate on college campuses in the early 1990s.
Researchers say many factors have caused the recent epidemic of HIV cases on college campuses.
“Contrary to belief, the spread of HIV is a growing problem on the LSU campus,” said Edward Richards, Hebert Law Center Professor and director of the Program of Law, Science and Public Health. “Unfortunately, students do not think so. They think AIDS is not an issue that affects them.”
Although many students may not know it, Baton Rouge is notorious for its high concentration of HIV and AIDS cases.
According to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Baton Rouge has the seventh highest number of detected HIV cases in the country, outranking such cities as New Orleans, Houston, Texas and Atlanta, Ga. East Baton Rouge Parish has the second largest number of people living with HIV of all the parishes in Louisiana. The majority of the people diagnosed with the disease in the state were black.
The increase in HIV cases among black college males has been associated with the stigma against HIV and homosexuality in the South. This could keep men from being open about their sexuality and practicing methods of safe sex.
“I do believe the perception and fear that gay African-American men feel is real and very powerful, strong enough that they would hide their sexual orientation and attempt to live what appears to be a heterosexual life,” said Kathy Saichuk, the University Student Health Center Coordinator. “African-American males on the LSU campus are a minority, and to be an African-American gay male is to be a minority within a minority.”
Saichuk said alcohol use also contributes to the spread of HIV on college campuses.
“70 percent of all unplanned sexual encounters by college students occur under the influence of alcohol and drugs,” Saichuk said. “60 percent of all sexually-transmitted diseases are contracted under the influence as well.”
Technology is another factor changing the way HIV is spread.
The UNC study reported that college men are more likely to meet sex partners over the Internet.
“The general increase in HIV cases has been linked to the growing use of the Internet for people, especially of the homosexual community, to hook up with other people — even groups of people — that share common interests,” Richards said.
Another major concern is the absence of a cure for HIV. Scholars worry because the disease is affecting college-educated black males, eliminating the educated portion of the country’s black minority.
“There is a relatively small number of black professionals in this country,” Richards said. “We can’t spare to lose them to AIDS.”
To combat the HIV epidemic, LSU has made efforts to advocate safe sex and increase awareness of the disease.
The Student Health Center conducts informational tables across campus, as well as presentations in residence halls, Greek houses, classrooms, at the African-American Cultural Center and the Women’s Center.
“In general, students believe, ‘It won’t happen to me’ and ‘I would rather be accepted than healthy,'” Saichuk said. “As a society, we have a tendency to look at a person and judge them by the outside appearance. If someone looks nice and clean, people think they must be nice and clean. The fact is that people can have HIV without having any symptoms and do not know they have any sexually transmitted disease until symptoms are extreme.”
The Student Health Center currently provides confidential HIV testing for $15 and results are usually returned in about two or three days.