Category: hiv

becoming audible: sound as intervention, HIV in louisiana – new project launched

those who know me in real life know that for the past 5 years i have worked off and on as an HIV prevention specialist. its a line of work that i got into after doing some volunteer work in my home town. all in all i have about 2.5 years of experience working with young gay men in an attempt to curb the spread of HIV. for about a year now, since my arrival in new orleans, i have been working for the NO/AIDS task force, new orleans flagship non-profit AIDS service organization. here, i recruit for online distance learning courses in HIV prevention and co-facilitate a community building project for young gay and bisexual men. i am lucky that this agency is filled with artists and dreamers, a commodity here in new orleans.

in collaboration with the louisiana community AIDS partnership, i have launched a new project to raise awareness about HIV using music as the transmitting medium. starting tomorrow i will be doing a series of recording sessions in which people living with HIV agree to donate their story to my cause. all of their recordings will be released freely on my blog using a creative commons 3.0 license. my only stipulation to their use is that they can only be performed in public for the purpose of advocacy and can only be used to raise money for HIV related causes. next to all the recordings will be an option to donate, all money raised through this project will benefit the no/aids task force.

on saturday july 18th, i will curate a concert at the zeitgeist multidisciplinary arts center in which the recordings will be presented while i perform piano drones with my electronic setup. the idea is to create an event which aims to open a door into the worlds of those residents from louisiana living with HIV. in a sense they will be: becoming audible.

like my friend jon phillips says, the more a person can integrate their whole person into all that they do the better off they will be. this is part of my attempt to merge my two lives into one project. certainly it is the beginning of a project which i hope will have legs and raise considerable income for aids related organizations.

as the recordings become available, i will post them to this site freely. i hope that people all over the world create events using these recordings to musically raise awareness about the realities of HIV and AIDS. i also hope that people take the idea and expand it and make it totally their own using their own recorded media. it is not enough to rely on government services, we all have a responsibility for keeping the human race healthy. creating world wide empathy for those affected by HIV is in my opinion an amazing way to use art. keep up with me as i chronicle the progress of this project.

as the next recording session is scheduled i will make a public announcement asking for participants from around louisiana. at the bottom of the page is a list of current statistics about HIV in louisiana. note that since hurricane katrina new orleans and baton rouge have moved to 2nd and 3rd respectively in AIDS cases. frankly i find this both troubling and unacceptable.

as we continue to face cuts in funding for HIV it is our responsibility as citizens to create our own means of communicating messages about this virus through non-traditional means. the more we can educate people and reduce stigma the healthier and more robust our world will be. please help me spread this message by posting this blog post widely across the internet. let’s make a world wide pledge to help curb the spread of HIV in new orleans and around the world.

participants must consent to the following:

Becoming Visible: Sound as Intervention

Participant Consent Form

I, state full name__________________________________ give the composer Tanner Menard permission to record my answers to a series of questions. I understand that these questions, created by Tanner Menard, will be asked from a series of questions pertaining to living with HIV/AIDS. I allow Tanner Menard to use these recordings to create a musical work, the purpose of which is to educate the public about life with HIV and to raise funds for HIV/AIDS related organizations. I fully understand that these recordings will be played to public audiences both live and potentially on TV, the Radio, and the Internet and on any other form of media capable of broadcasting the recordings or advertisements associated with the music created for the concert. I give Mr. Menard full permission to use these recordings for the purpose of this concert, any future publication associated with the concert, any derivative work associated with the concert, any replication of the concert and any advertisement associated with the concert or publication of the music associated with the concert for all time and in any nation on earth and through out the universe. I understand that my name and image will remain totally confidential and will never be used in advertisements, program notes, and publications, on TV, the Radio on the Internet or on any other media. I waive all copyright to these recordings to Tanner Menard and will never attempt to garner revenue from these recordings. I understand that Mr. Menard will only use these recordings, the music associated with the recordings, any derivative works associated with the recordings and any future publications associated with the recordings, the concert or the music created for the concert to raise money for HIV/AIDS related purposes. I understand that any proceeds from any sale and/or promotion of the recordings will be retained by Tanner Menard. I waive any right to stop the use of these recordings for any reasons listed above. I understand that Tanner Menard will hold the copyright to any music made with these recordings and that the NO/AIDS Task Force is in no way liable for the copyright. By signing this document I waive the right to find the NO/AIDS Task Force liable for Tanner Menard’s use of these recordings. I understand that by waiving my right to these recordings, I do not waive my right to tell this story in the future in my own words and that my story remains my own. The validity, interpretation and legal effect of this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Louisiana applicable to contracts entered into and performed entirely within said State. If any provision of this Agreement or the application thereof to any party or circumstances shall be declared void, illegal or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement shall be valid and enforceable to the extent I fully understand every word used in this consent form and agree to all the terms and conditions of the recording.

NAME_______________________________________________________________

DATE______________


Louisiana Highlights from the CDC HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2007

The CDC’s HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2007 is now available at www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/resources/reports/2007report. Louisiana had an increase in AIDS diagnoses, HIV diagnoses and a change in the metro area ranking from 2006 to 2007. Some of the explanations for these changes are outlined below.

Change in National AIDS Case Rate Ranking from 2006-2007
• According to the CDC’s HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, 2007, the New Orleans metro area ranked 2nd and the Baton Rouge metro area ranked 3rd in reported AIDS case rates in 2007 among metropolitan areas in the US with >500,000 persons. In 2006, Baton Rouge ranked 4th and New Orleans ranked 8th.

Rank Metropolitan area 2007 Rate
1 Miami, FL 33.1
2 New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA 31.5
3 Baton Rouge, LA 31.4
4 Washington, DC-VA-MD-WV 30.5
5 Baltimore-Towson, MD 29.6
6 New York, NY-NJ-PA 27.1
7 Jackson, MS 26.0
7 San Francisco, CA 26.0
9 Columbia, SC 25.3
10 Jacksonville, FL 23.1

• Louisiana ranked 5th in the nation in reported AIDS case rates in both 2006 and 2007.

Rank State 2007 Rate
1 District of Columbia 148.1
2 New York 24.9
3 Maryland 24.8
4 Florida 21.7
5 Louisiana 20.5
6 Delaware 19.8
7 Georgia 19.7
8 South Carolina 16.8
9 Connecticut 15.1
10 Pennsylvania 14.1

• Louisiana ranked 11th in the nation in the number of reported AIDS cases in 2007. (In 2006, Louisiana ranked 12th.)

The change in the metro area ranking may be due to:
1. Denominators used for calculation
• The AIDS case rates for the metro areas that are in the top 10 are fairly close. Incomplete reporting of AIDS cases or an inaccurate population estimate for a metro area can significantly affect the ranking.
• The CDC used the original census estimate (1,030,363) for the New Orleans area for 2007 to calculate the rate. Since then, the Census Bureau has revised the estimate to 1,109,784. (The estimates for Orleans, Jefferson, and St. Bernard Parishes were all increased.) Using this revised estimate, the AIDS case rate for New Orleans would be 29.3, which would put New Orleans 5th in AIDS case rates and Baton Rouge 2nd.

2. Increase in AIDS diagnoses in Baton Rouge and New Orleans
• There was an increase in reported AIDS cases in both the Baton Rouge and New Orleans metro areas from 2006 to 2007
• Reported AIDS cases increased from 271 to 325 in New Orleans (20% increase) and from 230 to 242 in Baton Rouge (5% increase).

3. Decrease in AIDS cases in other metropolitan areas
• Six of the metro areas that had ranked higher than New Orleans in 2006 had decreases in reported AIDS cases from 2006 to 2007.
• The CDC notes that “AIDS cases have decreased nationally due to the widespread use of highly active antiretroviral therapy which prolongs the time from diagnosis with HIV infection to progression to AIDS.” There may have also been reporting issues such as reporting delays or incomplete reporting that contributed to the decrease.
o Miami, FL which ranked 1st in 2006, had a 22% decrease from 2,284 to 1,792.
o Baltimore, MD which ranked 2nd in 2006, had a 21% decrease from 998 to 791.
o Washington, DC, which ranked 4th in 2006, had a 1.5% decrease from 1,643 to 1,618.
o New York City, NY, which ranked 5th in 2006, had a 7% decrease from 5,469 to 5,095.
o Columbia, SC, which ranked 6th in 2006, had a 9.5% decrease from 200 to 181.
o Memphis, TN, which ranked 7th in 2006, had a 26% decrease from 345 to 255.

Increase in AIDS Diagnoses from 2006-2007
• Louisiana AIDS cases reported to CDC increased from 819 in 2006 to 879 in 2007, a 7% increase (note that CDC uses the date the case was reported not the date the case was diagnosed).
• New AIDS diagnoses in Louisiana increased from 765 in 2006 to 813 in 2007, a 6% increase.

The increase in AIDS diagnoses in Louisiana may be due to:
1. Late diagnosis
• 34% of persons newly diagnosed with HIV in 2007 and 38% diagnosed in 2006 had an AIDS diagnosis within 6 months of their first HIV diagnosis.
• A large percentage of persons are being tested because they have HIV-related symptoms. In 2007, 26% of new diagnoses were made during an inpatient hospital visit.

2. Lack of routine primary medical care
• In Louisiana, 43% of persons living with HIV/AIDS as of 12/31/07 did not have a primary medical care visit in 2007.

3. Adherence issues/treatment failure

Increase in HIV Diagnoses from 2006-2007
• New HIV diagnoses in Louisiana increased from 1,013 in 2006 to 1,151 in 2007, a 14% increase. In the U.S., among the 34 states and 5 U.S. dependent areas with confidential name-based HIV infection reporting, new diagnoses also increased 14%.
• Increases were seen in the following regions: New Orleans (37%), Baton Rouge (5%), Houma (18%), Lake Charles (36%), and Shreveport (22%).

The increase in HIV diagnoses in Louisiana may be due to:
1. Increased HIV testing
• There was more widespread use of rapid testing in 2007 compared to 2006.
• Routine testing in medical settings was likely to have increased as a result of the release of the CDC guidelines in September 2006 which recommended increased HIV screening of adults, adolescents and pregnant women in health-care settings.

2. Changes in the New Orleans metro area post-Katrina
• The New Orleans region accounted for most of the statewide increase in the number of new diagnoses. In the New Orleans region, new cases increased 37%, from 257 in 2006 to 351 in 2007.
• More medical facilities were open in 2007 in the New Orleans area, and testing increased as a result.
• The overall population increased 14% in Orleans Parish from 2006 to 2007.

3. There may actually be an increase in HIV transmission
• There has been an increase in new diagnoses among MSM, both nationally and in Louisiana. This is consistent with the national incidence data which showed an increased incidence among MSM. The HIV/AIDS program will monitor new diagnoses and incidence data over the next few years to assess whether there was an actual increase in HIV transmission.

categories hiv | admin | May 7, 2009 | comments Comments (7)

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