‘Bounce to Zero’ campaign aims to end HIV epidemic in New Orleans
19th December 2022 · 0 Comments
By Ryan Whirty
Contributing Writer
Ronald Thomas was diagnosed with HIV 37 years ago, and it’s been a long, bumpy journey since then to reach a place of physical health and inner peace.
Now 70, Thomas has spent nearly four decades learning to live with HIV while treatments for the disease have developed and evolved, and as the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS has gradually lessened but not totally disappeared.
At first, Thomas was required to take 34 pills four times a day to treat HIV, but now treatment has advanced to the point where he only needs to take two pills once a day. However, the medication he’s taken has caused him to develop diabetes, another condition he must manage.
But with regular, vigorous exercise and a change of diet to a more healthy one, Thomas is happy, healthy and enjoying life. Not only has the HIV not developed into AIDS, but the infection has been tampered to the point where it’s barely even detectable in his system.
“I had to change my whole lifestyle and the way I do things,” he said.
Now, Thomas works to promote HIV testing, treatment and awareness in New Orleans, particularly in the African-American community, a demographic that disproportionately bears the impact of the AIDS epidemic that began more than four decades ago.
Thomas carries out his mission as chairperson of the New Orleans Regional AIDS Planning Council, and now he’s helping to spearhead the New Orleans Department of Health’s “Bounce to Zero” campaign, which is part of a country-wide effort to help end the HIV epidemic. A primary goal for the national anti-HIV crusade is to reduce the number of new infections in the United States by 95 percent by 2030.
The city’s “Bounce to Zero” campaign kicked off on Dec. 1, which was World AIDS Day. Thomas said he is excited to be part of part of the campaign and hopes to see significant positive impact in the community from the project.
Dr. Jennifer Avegno, director of the New Orleans Health Department and an official at the LSU School of Medicine, said “Bounce to Zero” is “a comprehensive campaign to bring widespread education and awareness about the facts of HIV and eliminate the stigma that might prevent folks from seeking help.”
Avegno said the effort is being funded through federal resources available to the NOHD’s Ryan White Services and Resources HIV program, a division of the NOHD. She added that campaign organizers hope to build on the treatments for HIV that have developed over the last 40 years, and to work to further change attitudes toward HIV and AIDS in the community.
“There has been much progress in HIV diagnosis and treatment over the past several decades, so that now individuals who are in care can live long, healthy lives,” she said. “However, stigma around the disease persists and is a killer – by being afraid to know your status or seek treatment, individuals can present later in the course of the illness and suffer tremendously.”
Avegno said that to achieve the effort’s primary goal of creating a healthier city by reducing the number of new HIV infections by 95 percent within eight years, those working on the campaign have outlined several key components for success: knowing one’s HIV status through regular testing; know your viral load, if you have tested positive for HIV; know your partner’s status; awareness of your rights around HIV; and learning to prevent infection.
Avegno said that because African Americans are disproportionately affected by HIV, as well as the stigma around the disease in the parts of the community, they’re giving the campaign an especially urgent mission. She noted that one in seven infected people don’t know they’re infected.
“We hope this campaign will get the word out to Black residents all across the region and help them feel more comfortable with HIV testing and treatment as needed,” she said. “It will save lives.”
New Orleans, which has the highest number of HIV cases in Louisiana, was selected for the national initiative because the city was identified as one of 57 priority jurisdictions in federal efforts to end the AIDS epidemic. According to an NOHD press release, there are 8,642 people in New Orleans living with HIV, a figure that amounts to 38 percent of the total number of cases in Louisiana. Nationwide there are roughly 1.2 million people living with HIV.
The name of the new NOHD initiative was inspired by the world-famous bounce music found in New Orleans, with the moniker representing bounce music’s upbeat, joyful sound, characteristics that campaign officials hope can positively impact the initiative with optimism and energy.
In addition to serving New Orleans and Orleans Parish, “Bounce to Zero” also targets the communities in Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John and St. Tammany parishes.
For more information on the “Bounce to Zero” effort, as well as information about where to find testing, primary-care and supportive services in the eight parishes, go to www.bouncetozero.com.
Avegno said that since the launch of the “Bounce to Zero” program, it has met with “widespread excitement” among medical providers and community advocates, who “are all excited to take the pledge and get the facts to the public about HIV testing and treatment.”
In addition to launching the “Bounce to Zero” effort, on Dec. 2, New Orleans health officials gathered with members of the community at the AIDS Memorial at Washington Square Park on Elysian Fields Avenue in the Marigny. Attendees laid a ceremonial wreath to honor and pay respects to those who have lost their lives to HIV and AIDS.
For his part, Thomas said a key to his reaching health was getting educated about HIV and AIDS, in terms of detection and treatment, and now he wants to help others learn about the disease as a way to be healthy and to reduce the fear and apprehension surrounding the disease among African Americans.
He said many people even display a willful ignorance about their own possible infection, a reluctance and trepidation arising from the way the Black community approaches the disease. The first lesson he and his fellow advocates try to impart to others is to get tested.
“I try to get the word out as much as I can,” he said. “Some people just don’t want to know their status. There is a stigma with the disease, and it’s costing people their lives. I’m trying to erase that stigma.”
He said the “Bounce to Zero” campaign can help do that, asserting that the new city- and nation-wide effort has also helped him continue learning about the disease that he manages within himself and that causes so much suffering and death in the Black community.
“We all need to know how to take care of ourselves and prevent ourselves from getting sick,” Thomas said. “We need to use everything in our toolbox to eradicate this disease to zero.”
This article originally published in the December 19, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
