Column: good news, bad news about HIV/AIDS

There was a lot to celebrate Tuesday on World AIDS Day. But that doesn't mean the fight is over.

The good news: New HIV diagnoses were down last year in Iowa from the record-setting 128 reported in 2007, according to the state Department of Public Health.

More good news: Because of advances in treatment, people in Iowa and across the country are living longer and healthier with HIV and AIDS than in years past.

But there's bad news, too: People still are becoming infected with HIV - 108 new diagnoses in Iowa last year alone. Health experts say many more people likely are infected but don't know it.

More bad news: For as far as we've come in our understanding about and public attitudes toward HIV and AIDS, that old stigma still exists. That's one reason some people don't get tested when they should.

“People say ‘I don't want to get tested, because what if it's positive?'” Kurt Pierick, Iowa Center for AIDS Resources and Education program coordinator, told me Tuesday.

But getting tested is an important component of keeping HIV/AIDS in check.

I caught up with Pierick at the Iowa City Public Library, where ICARE was offering information and free HIV testing in conjunction with Johnson County Public Health.

Both organizations offer free HIV tests year-round, he said, but Tuesday's library setup was intended to reach out a little further.

In the hallway, volunteers staffed informational tables, giving away free condoms and sugar cookies decorated with red frosting ribbons.

At last year's event, the organizations tested about 20 people. This year, they expanded the hours and had more people on hand to administer even more tests.

ICARE provides free support and services to people with HIV/AIDS, their families and friends in Eastern Iowa. They've been doing it for more than two decades. And in that time, acquired immune deficiency syndrome has gone from bugaboo to back burner epidemic.

But it's as important to be safe and aware now as it's ever been.

HIV affects some groups disproportionately, but just because you aren't in a high-risk group, don't think you've got a free pass.

“A lot of people think it can't happen to them,” he said. “It can happen to anybody.”

Because even though there's been a lot of progress in fighting HIV and AIDS, until there's a cure, HIV/AIDS always will be a public health threat.

It's not going away on its own.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com