HIV Criminal Law Conscientization Strategic Plan Targeting African, Atlantic & Indian ocean-Islands-born Immigrants in USA 2016-2017

As a lesson learnt from the academy, the following is our strategic plan:

1. Objective: To develop a fact sheet that is easily read to be used as both a talk point and information tool on HIV Criminalization and Immigration by May 29th 2016.

OUTPUT: Developed fact sheet in a blog format highlighting at least 5 state level illustrations of the penal code and listed crimes following HIV transmission (alleged or otherwise) /non-disclosure.

OUTCOME: i. Brief synthesis of HINAC II and interconnectivity to immigration.

                    ii. Highlight the broad basedness of penalties across states

                   iii. Provide penalty examples in form of character and typology

                   iv. Highlight penalty enhancement as it varies across states

                    v. Show consequences and provide consequential based education

2. Objective: Inform HINAC ACADEMY Leadership by way of report by May 30th 2016.

OUTPUT: Send e-mail to Cindy and Tami briefing them on translation of learned knowledge from Academy.

OUTCOME:  i. E-mail 

                     ii. Link to fact sheets: 

http://qualitylonglifeinbayarea.blogspot.com/2016/05/hiv-is-not-crime-convention-in.html.

http://impreventionusa.blogspot.com/.

3. Objective: Draw an itinerary to promote and raise conscientiousness towards HIV Criminalization and modernization as an influence factor for acculturation and relation building in USA targeting African Immigrants in the Bay Area and Northern California from May 2016 to April 2017. 

OUTPUT: Rolled Plan to cover all Counties in Northern California

OUTCOME: i. Planned Community Dialogue events

                    ii. Location, venues and dates of implementation

                   iii. Feedback from different community dialogue events

                   iv. Identified Community Resource Persons/Social Change Agents

                    v. Report/model to be shared with HINAC ACADEMY and wider community by 2017.

BACKGROUND: 

BAY AREA HEALTHY LIVING SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION PLATFORM-(BayHeal), is registered as a community Based Organization in California.

We provide information on where to access health services, nutrition tips/food and physical activity venues targeting African Immigrants in the Bay Area and Northern California. This is the gap we intend to fill. We are not a legal provision service however. We specifically, (but not limited to)  target African-Immigrants.

Our  core mobilization task is to engage in individual one-on-one solicitation and community organizing to improve health seeking practices and positive living. Most, especially, in the Bay Area. We address health, nutrition and physical activity issues. Our referral points include: Zuckerberg/San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center; Stanford Health, Kaiser Permanente; St. Francis, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital and other health provision points in the Bay Area. 

We run dedicated blogs which are updated regularly with information we hope can be easily read, understood and utilized. We have covered cities in USA, Bay Area Counties and Towns where African-Immigrants reside, matched their locales and as much as possible provided information in form of: Services provided, social activities,location, addresses and contact numbers.

The blogs are accessible by anyone who can read English. We use easily read material to promote healthy living such as: 

http://qualitylonglifeinbayarea.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-guide-to-healthy-livelihood.html. 

HIV, HEALTHY LIVING SUPPORT AND COMMUNICATION:

Your number one concern is to be properly documented in USA. But, you still need to pay for the room you stay in, you have outlived your visa and you are frantically desperately scared of the immigration and border patrol police. Seeking care or checking for HIV status or any communicable disease you may be having would be the least priority. You are not alone.

Are you aware of the 7 major thematic preoccupations of African, Atlantic & Indian ocean Islands-born Immigrants: Dance, Drama, Dress, Diet, Disease, Documentation/Duty to US, Development?

More than 1.2 million people in the United States are living with HIV infection, and almost 1 in 8 (12.8%) are unaware of their infection. Gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), particularly young black/African American MSM, are most seriously affected by HIV.

By race, blacks/African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV.

Blacks/African Americans continue to experience the most severe burden of HIV, compared with other races and ethnicities. Blacks represent approximately 12% of the U.S. population, but accounted for an estimated 44% of new HIV infections in 2010. They also accounted for 41% of people living with HIV infection in 2011. Since the epidemic began, an estimated 270,726 blacks with AIDS have died, including an estimated 6,540 in 2012. According to http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/statistics/overview/ataglance.html.

HIV is a crisis in African American communities, threatening the health and well-being of African American men and women across the United States. While African Americans face the most severe burden of HIV and AIDS of any racial/ethnic group in the nation, prevention efforts have helped to maintain stability in the annual number of new HIV infections among African Americans for more than a decade. Additionally, recent CDC data found indications of an encouraging decline in new infections among African American women. Still, African American heterosexual women continue to be far more affected by HIV than women of any other race or ethnicity, and young black gay and bisexual men now account for more new infections than any other group in the United States. According to https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/cdc-hiv-aa-508.pdf.

In 2014, 44% (19,540) of estimated new HIV diagnoses in the United States were among African Americans, who comprise 12% of the US population.

• Among all African Americans diagnosed with HIV in 2014, an estimated 73% (14,305) were men and 26% (5,128) were women.

• Among all African Americans diagnosed with HIV in 2014, an estimated 57% (11,201) were gay or bisexual men. Of those gay and bisexual men, 39% (4,321) were young men aged 13 to 24.

• From 2005 to 2014, the number of new HIV diagnoses among African American women fell 42%, though it is still high compared to women of other races/ethnicities. In 2014, an estimated 1,350 Hispanic/Latino women and 1,483 white women were diagnosed with HIV, compared to 5,128 African American women.

• From 2005 to 2014, the number of new HIV diagnoses among African American gay and bisexual men increased 22%. But that number stabilized in recent years, increasing less than 1% since 2010.

• From 2005 to 2014, the number of new HIV diagnoses among young African American gay and bisexual men (aged 13 to 24) increased 87%. But that trend has leveled off recently, with the number declining 2% since 2010.

In 2014, an estimated 48% (10,045) of those diagnosed with AIDS in the United States were African Americans. By the end of 2014, 42% (504,354) of those ever diagnosed with AIDS were African Americans. According to http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/group/racialethnic/africanamericans/cdc-hiv-africanamericans.pdf.

The following HIV-related disparities stand out in a glaring way:

Gay and bisexual men continue to be most affected by the HIV epidemic in the U.S. At current rates, 1 in 6 MSM will be diagnosed with HIV in their lifetime, including 1 in 2 black MSM, 1 in 4 Latino MSM, and 1 in 11 white MSM. African Americans are by far the most affected racial or ethnic group with a lifetime HIV risk of 1 in 20 for men (compared to 1 in 132 for whites) and 1 in 48 for women (compared to 1 in 880 for whites). People who inject drugs are at much higher lifetime risk than the general population, and women who inject drugs have a higher risk than men (1 in 23 compared with 1 in 36). People living in the South are more likely to be diagnosed with HIV over the course of their lifetime than other Americans, with the highest risk in Washington, DC (1 in 13), Maryland (1 in 49), Georgia (1 in 51), Florida (1 in 54), and Louisiana (1 in 56). According to http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/2016/croi-press-release-risk.html.

The United States of America (USA) currently has around 1.2 million people living with HIV, with one in seven people unaware that they have HIV. The size of the epidemic is relatively small compared to the total population, however it is heavily concentrated among several key affected populations and geographically in the southern states – where 49% of all HIV new infections occur.  Since the beginning of the HIV and AIDS epidemic, 659,000 people have died of AIDS-related illnesses in the USA. Although the USA is the greatest national funder of the HIV epidemic globally, it is still facing a major ongoing HIV epidemic itself, with around 50,000 new infections per year. Stigma and discrimination continue to hamper people's access to HIV prevention, testing and treatment services, fueling the cycle of new infections. The USA lacked a comprehensive plan on HIV until 2010 when President Obama created a National HIV/AIDS Strategy. The latest strategy, released in 2015, is structured around four core aims: reducing new HIV infections; increasing access to care and improving health outcomes for people living with HIV; reducing HIV-related disparities and health inequities and achieving a coordinated national response to the epidemic. See more at: http://www.avert.org/professionals/hiv-around-world/western-central-europe-north-america/usa#sthash.0DWw7Kea.dpuf.

Regardless of sexual orientation, one in 20 black men and one in 48 black women will be diagnosed with the virus that causes AIDS in their lifetimes, according to the CDC. For Hispanic men and women, the risks are one in 48 and one in 227, respectively. According to http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/02/23/cdc-half-of-gay-black-men-will-get-hiv.html.

Gross inequities in the United States immigration system disproportionately harm HIV affected people, documented or otherwise, and their families. The legal, cultural, public health, and socioeconomic barriers created by the broken immigration system in the United States create substantial obstacles for people living with HIV and their advocates. The isolation and lack of health care available to immigrant populations impedes HIV testing, treatment, and prevention efforts. HIV-related restrictions for those visiting or immigrating to a country exacerbate these problems by breaking families apart, dividing spouses, separating parents from their children, limiting employment and educational opportunities for people with HIV, and discouraging individuals from seeking testing or treatment for fear of being denied entry or placed on deportation proceedings. According to http://www.hivlawandpolicy.org/issues/immigration.

If you are undocumented and you are within the US borders and have HIV, the US Federal Laws uphold your right to quality care. Indeed the issue of documentation plays a big part in the decisions to seek healthcare services. When a person enters the United States and resides in this country without authorization by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), they are undocumented, which is against the law. Immigrants without documentation risk deportation, fines, penalties, and/or prosecution. United States law applies to all persons residing within its borders. Even if you are not a U.S. citizen, or are an immigrant without legal status, you still are entitled to certain rights and resources under U.S. law. According to http://legalcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Undocumented_Immigrants_English.pdf.

When one mentions black people, one should understand that this applies to persons from many parts of the world such as: Canada, UK, South America, Australia and Africa. Black people have used different ways to get to USA. Many who enter through illegal entry points travel long distances and endure grueling experiences. Some are infected with HIV as they engage in survival commercial sex-work. Some of the children coming across the Mexican border are testing positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and a Texas health official says that some may have contracted the disease during their long journey north from Central America. According to Breaking News at Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/US/illegal-immigrant-children-hiv/2014/06/28/id/579798/#ixzz4AHjZA5lF.