by Nicole Joy

15 months ago: U.S. Henry Cejudo, right, wrestles Colombia’s Fredy Serrano in the 55-kg class of the Pan-American wrestling championship in San Salvador, May 20, 2007. Cejudo won the gold medal.(photo by Edgar Romero)

Coinciding with updated data revealing that Hispanics comprise 22 percent of new HIVAIDS diagnoses in the United States, major global and national sessions are addressing the statistics with new concern.

The figures, released by the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control, fed discussions this month at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, which drew 22,000 participants.

Multiple organizations representing U.S. Hispanics joined in presentations on issues impacting the community as they strategized on how to fight AIDS effectively across all borders.

A major U.S. conference on AIDS will follow Sept. 18-21 in Miami Beach, hosted by the National Minority AIDS Council.

The Mexico City sessions, which concluded Aug. 8, ranged from satellite meetings and special youth programs to visual arts exhibitions. A series of presentations covered social and economic factors prevalent in the Latino community.

Dennis deLeón, head of the New York-based Latino Commission on AIDS, related to Weekly Report the many challenges facing those working to confront the AIDS epidemic.

“We hope to share what is happening in other countries through more press coverage—and to see how those countries are coping with care needs,” he said.

DeLeón singled out stigma as a main challenge the Latino population faces. “This stigmatizing process can cut persons with AIDS off from their families’” he said.

“It causes sexually active Hispanics not to get tested for HIV or to delay taking medications until they are presented with an AIDS diagnosis.”

Henry Cejudo

A 24-minute video presentation produced by the Bay Area National Latino AIDS Awareness Day(BANLMD), “A Todos Nos Afecta’” encouraged discussions about HIV/AIDS related stigma and risk behaviors.

It featured interviews with infected individuals in conjunction with telenovela-style dramatizations about Latino immigrant populations in California.

In addition’ the National Latino AIDS Committee of Northern Virginia displayed an exhibit titled “Portraits of Latinos fighting against AIDS in the Washington’ D.C. metropolitan area.”

In other health related news:

As Hispanics grow older, Alzheimer’s poses bigger threat to community

by Virginia Torres

Hispanics with mild to moderate Alzbeimer’s disease experienced major progress in cognition after 12 weeks of treatment with Aricept (donepezil HCI tablets), according to a study released July 30 at the 2008 Alzheimer’s Association International ­Conference.

Approximately 200,000 Hispanics living in the United States today have AD, and by the year 2050 an estimated 1.3 million will have the disease, announced the National Institute on Aging.

Óscar López, professor of neurology at the University of Pittsburgh, is one of the lead investigators in the study, which involved 106 Hispanic men and women at least 50 years old. L6pez has conducted several studies in the clinical diagnosis of AD and vascular dementia.

“This news should serve as a call to action for Hispanic families to watch for early signs of AD among their loved ones and speak with a doctor as soon as possible if symptoms are suspected,” he said.

The research indicates that symptoms of AD in Hispanics show seven years before non-Hispanics, and approximately 40 percent of the cases are undiagnosed and untreated. It adds that: Latinos usually wait three years after having the fi rst symptoms to see a doctor due to language and cultural barriers.

AD is increasing among Latinos because of the growing elderly population, genetics and higher rates in diabetes and hypertension, the study concludes. Hispanic Link.

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The Peruvian government should seek a dialogue and end the conflict

by the El Reportero’s news services

The Peruvian government must look for the dialogue and finish the conflict Bolzano/Bozen, Göttingen, on August 20, 2008.

The Association for the Threatened Peoples (APA) sent the urgent one appeal to the government of Peru so that it finishes the conflict with People of the Amazons.

In a letter to Peruvian President Alan Garcia and Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo, the APA remarked that government violence against indigenous communities in a desperate struggle to survive and have their rights respected will not come to anything. The APA also communicated that in the next weeks will ask that religious and civil human rights groups embrace the cause of Peruvian indigenous people.

Without any consultation with indigenous populations, the Peruvian government approved 30 new laws that will facilitate the sale of indigenous territories rich in natural resources to transnational corporations, above all, petroleum companies. This violates the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People, and also the ILO Convention 169 ratifi ed by Peru in 1994.

As a consequence, thousands of indigenous people affected by the new laws have risen up in desperate protest. Recently, they have rallied at various petroleum and gas extraction sites as well as hydroelectric centers, bridges and highways. The government’s response was to proclaim a state of emergency and invade the four regions involved.

The extraction of petroleum and gas in the Peruvian Amazon has already gravely affected the environment and the health of indigenous populations in these regions. The Camisea project, for example, the largest gas extraction project in Peru’s history, directly affected 8700 people in the Machiguenga area and the Nahua, Nanti and Kirineri communities. Nearly 75 percent of the extraction is concentrated in areas of indigenous populations who are living in voluntary isolation, and nearly 70 percent the Peruvian Amazon, including several natural reserves, has already been divided into petroleum extraction regions.

by Virginia Torres

Dr. William Vega

Twenty-seven percent of Hispanic adults living in the United States have no health care providers and 83 percent of them obtain answers to medical questions from the media, according to a report released Aug.12 by the Pew Hispanic Center and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The study indicates that although Hispanics are a young and healthy population, they are more susceptible to serious health conditions like obesity and diabetes.

During an Aug. 13 briefing on the 78-page report at the National Press Club, William Vega, professor of medicine at UCLA Medical School, said that cultural and adaptation challenges are among the main reasons Hispanics lack health care providers.

“The study really points out where the Jagged edges are,” Vega said. “Three-fourths of the Latino population is composed of immigrants and the children of immigrants. They need health care access regularly. They Jagged edges are,” Vega said. “Three-fourths of the Latino population is composed of immigrants and the children of immigrants. They need health care access regularly. They need people they can count on.”

Groups less likely to have health care providers are men, young adults, the less educated and those who do not have health insurance.

Luncheon speaker Elena Rios, president and CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association, suggested several strategies to improve health care access, including changing the media’s approach so that it focuses on a younger audience (30 years old or less). She also suggested hiring Latino staff who have connections to the community, making health insurance more universal and affordable, and to start educating the Hispanic community at a younger age.

Elena Ríos

“We have to transform the way we think in terms of health,” Rios said. Ríos commented that while there has been greater support in Congress for several bills that have been introduced, problems remain in gaining more backing from the leadership in the Senate.

As far as the way Senators Obama and McCain are dealing with the health care problem, Rios said “McCain is a little less friendly toward the low-income population, while Obama does have specifics, especially in prevention, obesity and diabetes.”

For further information, visit http://:pewhispanic.or9/reports/report.php?ReportlD=91.

In other news:

IMMIGRATION: 25 bills and 33 Amendments, but once again, THE BIG ONE got away

by Alonso Yáñez

Although the second session of the 110th U.S. Congress has adjourned until September for its summer vacation, many topics important to the Latino community have still not been resolved.

Among the most prominent unaddressed issues by Congress during this session are a comprehensive immigration reform bill, the DREAM Act and stabilizing the agricultural workforce. Before the Senate stopped debating a comprehensive immigration bill, there were 33 amendments to its first version (SB1348), and six to the last one (SB1 639).

What happened:

Comprehensive immigration refor­m: Weeks of negotiations between various senators and the White House produced the Secure Borders, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Reform Act (SB1348), which provides more resources for border, interior and worksite enforcement and establishes a temporary worker program. After many amendments, the bill was re-introduced June 18 as SB. 1639 but was filibustered by Jim DeMint (R-SC), Jeff Sessions (R-AL) and David Vitter (R-LA). There was a vote to end the filibuster on June 28, but the motion to invoke cloture failed by a vote of 48 to 53, and the Senate moved on to other business.

DREAM ACT: The Development, Relief and Education for Minors Act (SB. 774), which provided in-state tuition to resident undocumented graduates of the state’s public schools, was introduced March 6,2007.After the bill was blocked twice by Republicans, the Senate considered the DREAM Act on Oct.24 (re-introduced as SB.2205), but was filibustered by Republicans. A procedural vote failed to gain support of 60 Senators to stop the filibuster and the Senate moved on to other business.

Stabilizing agricultural workforce: Since more than 50°/O of the agricultural workforce in the nation is undocumented, addressing immigration in this sector is cruciak The Agricultural Job Opportunity Benefits and Security Act (AgJOBS) or SB. 340, which put undocumented immigrant farm workers on a path to legalization, was introduced by Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-Idaho). The bill was included in the comprehensive immigration reform bill that was filibustered in the Senate in June 2007. Hispanic Link.