........... �J ..... " ............. TO
majo recom
mendation of President Reagan'
AIDS Commission, the Commis ion
found that the federal ponse in
the three years lnce then has em-
'AID and
Black females
by No aD J. C ment, DDS.
An AIDS prevention program
designed specifically for tile efficacy
of Black women may help control
the rapidly growing incidence of
AIDS among BI ck women.
Helen L. Oasch, Health Educator,
from the my Center Community
Cole of Columbia Unive
ofpubUc Health explained, Self-ef
ficacy refers lto an individual' con
fidence in hi or her ability to per
form specific behaviors in pecific
situation."
A tudy released earlier this year
by the Center for lsease Control
howed overall female deaths from
HlY were some 12,000, in the year
'1990 "and nearly half" or 6,000
WCIe African American femal .
Gasch stated that torically and
today, Black women have been the
binding force which ha held
families and ocial networks intact.
However, the rapid deterioration of
neighborhoods', the cell of the
economic and t� high rate of
unemployment and incarceration of
Black men creates an atm' phere of '
d peration ... One of the things that
happens to relationships i that a
power imbalance develops between
Black men and women, mainly be
cause or tile decreased IV ilability of
marriageable men.
THE RESULT OF this ex ratio
imbalance is that Black women no
longer have leverage to Insi t on safe
x and ny Insistence-may jeopard
lze a val ued relationship.
"Women ee their options shrink
ing and tend to tolerate more Objec
tionable behavior for men. In con
trast men ee their options as limit
Ie , resulting in Ie s pressure to
develop commitments nd greater
power within relationships."
"For women who feel powerful,
the nego . ation of safer ex grows
from a repertoire of succes ,Cui ex
perience. For women who feel
defeated, taking on the hard task of
asking for condom use is just too
much.
To teach aCe sex to women with
little self-efficacy, the ense of
powerl ne must be addressed," .
Oasch aid. '
"In order for 8 woman to ex
perience increased comfort with the
process of sexual negotiation she
must be made aware of her ability to
ert herself and gain equal footing
with her partner in sexual Inter
course."
For now you're within the
norms.
ain
.
J Ric ri:I H. chw MD, women faint or feel faint due to chan
ges in circulation brought on by the
Pr,sident, TIN A ""rica1l Colkp uterus on the blood ve els in the
4lQbptrlciGM and G!MCOlogisq pelvis.
Everyone knows what it' like to
feel faint - your vi ion blurs, you
get dizzy, your knees get weak.
Sometimes the e symptoms can be
come overwhelming, causing a per-
on to lose consciousness for brief
moment.
The medical for uch fainting
spel i syncope. � condition is
brought on by a I ck of oxygen
reacbing the brain. Extreme pa In
) and fight can allln\erfere with
normal breathing or blOod circula
tion needed to keep a ufficient flow
of oxygen to the brain. S�ndin� ',till
for a long period or rapidly n mg
after itting or lying down can al 0
cause fainting.
Faintin epi ode ate oce ional
ly the caus of om und rlying
medical condition. Heart problems,
brain circulatory di orders. nd, in
rare cas . eizure may trigger a
f inting pell.
Som prescription drug, u h'
tho e ed to ire t high blood pre ' ..
sure, can make peBon faint if they
cause the hlood p ure to fall too
low. During pregn ncy, many
WHEN A PERSON faints, he or
he ually becomes pale and begins
to sweat profusely. Pulse rate and
blood pres UTe both drop and the per-
on lose conscio n and falls.
Fainting is uaUy not a cause for
concern if consciousne is regained
quickly. To ensure that another at
tack doe not occur,' the ,person
hould remain lying down for
several minutes after awakening.
If you feel faint, it with your he t .
between your knee of lie down wi th
your legs elevated above che t level.
The p itions will help re tore
normal blood now to t brain and
help pr v m a blackout. It' you fre
quently feel lightheaded, try to al
way ri e lowly from the sitting or
recli ning posi tion.
Repe ed fainting pell should
be di cus ed with your doctor. He or
she may want to examine you and
perform certai n te t to make ure
that nothing serious i wrong. Your
doctor can al 0 provide advice on
how to prevent a fainting spell when
you feel th ymptoms coming on.
The report also says
that "it;
fundamentally unjust,
as well as unwise, to
tell those who seek
treatment for drug
addiction that there is
no room; but then tell
th m that the
taxpayers are willing
to spend thousands
of dollars a year to
keep th m in jail. "
d
for HIV," he added. Dr. Osborn .
also Dean of the School of Public
He lth at the University of
Michigan.
Don C. Des Jarlai ,Ph.D., a mem
ber of the' Commission, said, "The
present 18 re tricting sterile injec:
tion equipment do not prevent drug
abuse but do �lease HIV transmis
ion.
"The pre ent laws restricting
sterile injection equipment do not
prevent drug abuse but do inc
mv n. .
"These la are ob olete and
dangero to the public health," he
dded. Dr. J , Director of
Research for the Chemical Depend
ency Institute of Betb IS1'le1 Medical
Center in N York, is an interna-
THE ATIO Co mjnissi on
on AIDS is an independent body
created by Congr to dvise Con
gress and the White House on
development of "a consi tent nation
al policy" concerning the HIV
epidemic.
Tb is-member Commi ion in
clude five volin members ap
pointed by the Senate, five appointed
by the Ho e, and two appointed by
Pre ident Bush. The three non
voting members are th Secretary of
� health and Human Services, the
Secretary of Defen e, and the
Secretary of Veteran Affai: .
HEALTH BRIEFS
I R' tin-A
tili around?
Retin-A, the acne medicine that
also fights the wrinkles of aging. is
ct in the DC with mole uses. dr.
Albert Kligman, Univemity of Pen
nsylvania scientist who developed
the drug, now reports that the
medications ma'y be effective in
treating precancerous 'kin lesions.
His studie are not complete, but
results so far are described as "very
encouraging." Incidentally, for all
applications, Retin-A must be
'prescribed by a doctor.
Fact bout lung
c nc r d ath
1be1e'S good news and bad. Mil
lio of men have quit smoking. and
according to the American cancer
Society, the death rate i falling t
among men 35 to 54 years of age.
The bad news i �t teenage girls
increasingl y ale taking up smoking.
MOle than half of women mokers
begin befcre they are 16. That migh
explain wby lung cancer' becomiD
a leading killer among American
women.
• ecUfaat
Program
• Walk In
ervlc
• Meet c Id
Acoepted
• family
Practlc
• Indoor·Outdoor Lab
Dr. lIoltehoko Marang, M.D.
12151 Woodward
Highland Park, MI41203
Send Health n w to:
Michigan Citizen, PO Box
03&80, 'Highland P rk, MI
48203
H V,
for
I
W ASHINOTO • DC -The a- during that time period;
lion I Org nization of BI ck Minority omen and children
County Officia ,Inc. (NCBM), accounted for 73% and 83 •
nd th N tional Blae Cau of pectively, of she fem e and
State Leg' tors will sponsor an child Incidence of my Infection
my AlDSTrainingWo hop in 1989, nd 76 and 79 •
for Minority 0 cia , Th y, respectively, in 1990.
Au t 22, 1991 from 9:00am n· Cente Cor Of Control,' •
5:00pm and Friday, A t 23, (CDC) reported that "over half
1991 from 9:00 tUl lpm at the the 4,000 new di DOled in
McCormick Center Hotel on omen were from intraveno
Lake Shore Drive and 23rd tree durin 1990"' ,
in Chicago. An inc in es repo
Th purpose of this WOrkshop in children and dotescent
i to provide participants, which durin the 1990 calendar year.
include countyofficial ,mayors, Wor hopdlscussio will in-
state legislatorl, health and elude:
education admln1 trator • What communiti and/or ift
gatekeepers, community leaders, dividuals can do to prevent the
mini te ,and educators with pread of my and AIDS; the
pecific and direct I'CC9mmenda- NOBCO model for outreach
tions addre ing mv & AIDS educating the minority com
i ue i their community and munity in my and AIDS preven-
workpla tion and education; and the
Thi rk hop also en- Centers for Di ase Control's na-
coura officiala to become in- tional mv & AIDS public policy
volved in HIV & AIDS advocacy development.
through direct participation of
project d velopqlent a ad THIS ION wJII t
vocacy., . official with the "how to and
Mi nori ties and women," hat to do" and importance of
pecifically Black, have a dis- making a public policy Cor thei,
proportionately high stati tic of community:
infected persons, 54,349 or 32� The workshop i free nd all
of the national total (16&913) are invited. To receive con-
reported cases (April, 1991). ference registration materi I
pie e contact Linda Hailhcox of
CONSIDER THESE scatis- NOBCO In WaShington, DC at
tics: A decrease in the annual in- 202-3476953; Keith Hinch of
cldence in HIY infection among NCBM in Atlanta at 404-892-
white from 1986 to 1990, while, 0127; or Ayo Bryant of NBCSL
. the annual incidence increases in W hington, DC at 202-624- c
among minority populations 5457.
.
ov.
ad
ougla
the
r
Michigan Citizen
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