Women focus of AIDS awareness push
Group gives out condoms at local bar

By Pamela G. Dempsey
Diné Bureau

GALLUP — Ladies night at The Class Act last Thursday drew more than the usual crowd of drinkers and dancers.

As the country-western cover band played old favorites, beers flew across the bar to eager hands and several pairs of eyes scouted the room for potential hook-ups.

In a semi-dark corner, two people watched and waited.

A few men stopped to talk, looking not at their faces, but at the table.

"Do these come with instructions," one man joked as he picked up a condom.

"Actually, yes," said Mattee Jim, as she rummaged in her bag for a small brochure.

Jim and coworker Bobbi Nez, both employees of Navajo AIDS Network, had set up shop Thursday night to distribute condoms and information on AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.

Jim posted two large signs, each reading "Got Condoms?" on either side of the table while Nez arranged the free products.

A group of women sitting at a table nearby kept close watch.

While this is routine for Jim, Thursday marked Nez's first night out.

Nez recently joined NAN as a project coordinator for its latest prevention effort the Hozho Benshadoo Project.

This federally-funded grant offers HIV prevention and education to Native women.

"We're really targeting groups at risk with alcohol, drug, and substance abuse," Nez said.

Outreach is a big part of the project.

"We're hanging out where women hang out," said Melvin Harrison, executive director of NAN.

Nez said Thursday night's attempt was somewhat successful.

About 20 women, compared to 16 men, picked up condoms and information.

"Women are more shy than men," Nez said. "Guys will come up and stock up."

The women, she said, came in groups to their table, whereas men came alone.

The stigmatism of condoms and sex sometimes stops women from practicing safe behaviors, Nez said.

"The perception exists that if you (as a woman) carry condoms, you think you look a certain way ... easy," she said.

What the project will attempt to do is educate women that it's OK to carry protection, Nez said.

And it's needed.

HIV on the decline
Dr. Jonathan Iralu, infectious disease consultant with Navajo Area Indian Health Service, said that since 1987, IHS has treated 217 total cases of HIV in its facilities within the Four Corners area.

In 2005, 19 new cases of HIV were reported.

For Iralu, it's positive news.

"There's a drop in the new case rate," he said. "(Before) there were 9.2 cases per 100,000 per year (reported), (now) there are 7.6 cases per 100,000 per year.

"Which is a big deal, that's nice."

Iralu said the decline in cases indicated that prevention efforts by groups such as NAN, the Navajo Nation AIDS Prevention Office, the Navajo Nation Social Hygiene Office, and the Shiprock AIDS Prevention Office during the last 10 years were working.

"They're finally showing good fruit," he said.

There is a flip-side however.

"Alcohol is still a major issue for transmission in all populations," Iralu said.

Alcohol also leads to poorer health among HIV patients, he said, as patients don't always adhere to their medication.

Women at risk
While HIV was once considered the "gay man's disease", heterosexual transmissions are on the rise across the U.S.

This is also true for women.

Women, although once viewed as not at risk for HIV, could be overlooking risky behaviors.

"They're at risk because they don't know about their partner's behaviors," Nez said. "(Their partner) could be sleeping with other women or (monogamous) but using drugs."

Because sex is a non-topic for Native women and not often discussed, women aren't likely to ask for an HIV test, Harrison said.

"Talking about sex is hard in the mainstream, but it's two and three times harder for (Native women)," he said.

Other than part of a prenatal visit, HIV tests are rarely offered to women by their health care providers, Nez said.

But IHS has found an answer to the problem.

Since October, any patient, ages 15-years-old to 70-years-old, is now offered an HIV and syphilis screening test.

"An earlier diagnosis leads to a longer life and less transmissions," Iralu said.

For more information, contact Navajo AIDS Network at (505) 863-9929.