The commission has several goals, Jones said: to find available funds for testing and outreach, erase some of the stigma associated with the disease and widen the knowledge pool for county residents. He said the commission will compile a yearly report to advise the county council on issues related to the virus.
Dr. Kelly Sipe Russo, physician clinical specialist for the Anne Arundel County Health Department's division of community health, said the department has identified "hot spots" in the county with higher rates of infection: the northern area and Annapolis.
Russo said although infections in the county aren't necessarily rising, they're not decreasing either, which is why the county is taking action.
The county already had several programs in place to help those people living with HIV or AIDS, and to increase awareness in the community. Sisters Informing Sisters on Topics about AIDS, or SISTA, for example, is a series of peer-led group sessions targeting African-American women, a community that historically has seen high rates of infection. Another program is geared toward educating intravenous drug users of the risks of needle-sharing.
But staffing is thin. James Leber, an education supervisor with the health department focusing on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, is one of two people who use funds from a federal outreach grant to identify people infected with HIV and link them to primary care physicians.
"We're out in the community," he said. "We're knocking on doors."
Health department officials are optimistic and encouraged that the programs in place are working, if slowly, and that more outreach and education will lead more people to get tested and treated if infected. Addressing the risk of infection is also urgent, Jones says. As people increasingly turn to alcohol and drugs because of emotional problems that often stem from financial issues in the economic downturn, some may practice unsafe sex.
Stigma is another reason Jones felt the commission was so important to create.
"It's a topic that people were quiet about," he said. "Part of what the commission will address is figuring out ways to take away some of the fear factor" in getting tested.
Massey, the HIV advocate, said that through her outreach work, she also hopes to break that stigma, especially among black women.
"The stigma is still there, but I feel we're doing some of the right things the right way," she said. "HIV infection is something that does not have to happen."
For more information about HIV/AIDS services in Anne Arundel County, visit www.aahealth.org or call 410-222-7108.
