By Alexandra Fradelizio | m/Oppenheim Media Writer
Throughout the United States, about 1.2 million citizens are currently living with HIV. However, only about 800,000 with the disease know of their condition. The rest who are unaware of their HIV status are placing the health of themselves and others in jeopardy. The goal of the National Minority AIDS Council (NMAC) in Washington, D.C. is to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by reducing exposure rates in groups that are significantly impacted by the deadly disease.
“Our work focuses on justice for communities of color living with HIV,” said the organization’s executive director Paul Kawata.
“We believe that there’s a fight for health equity and racial justice that will lead us towards ending the epidemic.”
NMAC represents nearly 3,000 US-based AIDS organizations by giving a voice to their causes in the nation’s capital. The agency, which was founded in 1987 at the start of the epidemic, has worked to ensure that proper medication is extended to all those who are battling the disease.
“Part of what we need to do is make sure that we get the medications to everyone who needs it,” explained Kawata.
“The truth is that there are a lot of people living with HIV that aren’t on medication right now, and our goal is to help identify them and to help support them to at least get health care.”
With new discoveries in AIDS prevention and medication, NMAC has worked to build a social justice movement around science. The organization has spread information regarding the undetectable viral load in which the HIV virus becomes untransmittable.
“We are at a unique moment in the epidemic,” said Kawata.
“We have real science that can end the epidemic, but we don’t necessarily have the clear pathways of how to bring that science to the people that need it.”
However, for the first time in 15 years, a drop in the rate of new infections has impacted most communities. While the decline is key to potentially shattering the decades-long epidemic, most individuals impacted by HIV in America remain to be those of color.
“Black women in the US are 20 times more likely than white women to contract HIV, and half of gay black men living in the US will contract HIV sometime in their lifetime,” explained Kawata.
“The numbers are unfortunately like so many other things that are impacting communities of color.”
Beginning his tenure with NMAC in 1989, Kawata saw how the AIDS epidemic drastically changed communities across America.
“It was my life. It was the people I loved who were dying,” he said.
Prior to last year’s presidential election, Kawata contemplated retiring, but due to the results, the executive director has remained with NMAC to ensure that those diagnosed with HIV receive proper medical treatment.
“We have a vision of trying to end the epidemic and trying to do it in this political environment has been challenging, but I haven’t lost hope yet,” he stated.
“It would not have been a service to my organization or to the movement for me to leave right now, so I’m here, and I’m committed to helping our movement understand what health care reform means.”
Currently, NMAC is examining how race impacts the future health outcomes of those impacted by HIV/AIDS. Based on the information conducted from participants, NMAC hopes to potentially end the epidemic in 2030. For Kawata, being an integral part of NMAC throughout the epidemic’s progression has helped him to understand the disease and how it particularly impacts minority groups.
“I am standing for all the friends I lost. It is my sense of giving the voice to all the people that are gone,” he said.
“This is not a job. This is a life commitment.”
Learn more about National Minority AIDS Council and Donate.