While clinical research has clearly demonstrated how to prevent the transmission of the virus that causes AIDS, that message has not been effectively communicated to the public, say organizers of a conference next week at Columbia.
Prominent educators, researchers and media representatives will gather Apr. 13 for the colloquium, "Strategies for HIV/AIDS Prevention: Research, Practice and the Media."
A primary goal of the day-long colloquium is to promote more effective collaboration among health researchers, clinical practitioners, policymakers and the media.
A panel of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine reported last summer that more research needs to be done on behaviors, such as practicing unsafe sex or sharing needles, that increase risk for AIDS. Interdisciplinary research in behavioral and medical sciences could show how to change those behaviors, the panel said.
Heterosexual transmission accounted for 9 percent of the 103,500 AIDS cases documented in 1993 by the federal Centers for Disease Control, up from 1.9 percent in 1985.
Different Messages
The increase was disproportionately high among blacks and Hispanics, and the federal agency said a major challenge is to develop culturally and linguistically appropriate HIV prevention messages for different racial and ethnic groups.
Homosexual transmission declined over the period, from 66.5 to 46.6 percent, while cases attributed to injecting drugs increased from 17.4 to 27.7 percent, the CDC said.
Conference organizers Eric Lehot and Jane Blansfield, both graduate students at the Columbia's School of Social Work, believe the mass media can help prevent risky behavior.
"Everyone takes some kind of cue from some media, whether it's magazines, pop music, television drama or the newspapers," said Lehot.
"Those outlets could publicize prevention messages, but nobody knows exactly what those messages should be. There's been little contact between the media and clinical researchers or the prevention community. We aim to change that."
The conference will open at 9:00 A.M. in Altschul Auditorium in the Columbia's International Affairs Building; registration begins at 8:15.
It is sponsored by the School of Social Work and its Task Force on Public Health and the Upper Manhattan Task Force on AIDS, a nonprofit social service provider to communities of color.
The keynote speaker will be Alvin Novick, professor of biology at Yale and editor of AIDS and Public Policy Journal.
Kramer to Speak
The well-known AIDS activist, author and playwright Larry Kramer will speak, as will Helen Daniels, executive director of the Upper Manhattan Task Force on AIDS; Ronald Feldman, dean of Columbia's School of Social Work; and the coordinators.
Other featured speakers are Sean Strub, publisher of Poz, a magazine for HIV-positive people, and Jessie Gruman, executive director of the Center for the Advancement of Health in Washington, D.C., and a proponent of alternative health research.
Twelve panels will be held. Among them, "Harm Reduction Among IV Drug Users" with Henry Blandsfield, of the Chemical Dependency Section at Danbury Hospital in Connecticut; Robert Newman, president of Beth Israel Hospital in New York; Stan Novick, president of the National Alliance of Methadone Advocates, and Adolfo Profumo, executive director of New York Harm Reduction Educators Inc., a needle exchange program in New York City.
Panelists speaking on "HIV Prevention in the Gay Male Community" are Gabriel Rotello, columnist for New York Newsday; Richard Elovich of the Gay Men's Health Crisis; Jeffrey Haskins, assistant director of the Minority Task Force on AIDS; Mark Milano of the New York State AIDS Institute; Michaelango Signorile, author of Queer in America and the forthcoming Outing Yourself, and Charles Silverstein, author of The New Joy of Gay Sex.
Organizers have sought the participation of representatives of diverse media.
Media Panel
Among the participants on a panel titled "Spreading the Word" are Eric Marcus, co-author of Breaking the Surface, the autobiography of Greg Louganis; John V. Fahey, producer of special projects for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS; Henry Grethel, president, Henry Grethel Apparel; Willi Ninja, a dancer and choreographer featured in the documentary Paris Is Burning; disk jockey and special event promoter John Suliga, and Andy Shih, vice president of the music company Dig It International Ltd. and former assistant professor of biochemistry at NYU Medical Center.
Registration is $60; student registration is $20.
A buffet lunch is available for $12 only by registering in advance. For information, call 604-4591.