Health Offi cials Warn of HIV Diagnoses in Western NY
Rise in diagnoses among Black LGBTQ men, transgender individuals
BY DUNCAN OSBORNE
The New York State
Health Department
warned doctors, clinics,
and other organizations
in Monroe and Erie Counties that
it was seeing increases in new HIV
diagnoses among young Black men
who have sex with men (MSM) and
transgender people in those two
counties, with most of the new diagnoses
occurring in and around
Rochester and Buffalo.
“Among the new diagnoses
from the Buffalo Region in past 18
months, there was an increased
proportion of young (below the age
of 25), non-Hispanic Black individuals
and those who report a history
of MSM,” an August 30 state
health department advisory said.
“Of the total new diagnoses, approximately
37 percent were below
25 years of age, 69 percent reported
history of MSM sexual contact
(sic), and 47 percent were non-Hispanic
Black individuals.”
New HIV diagnoses in Buffalo
went from 68 in 2018 to 79 in 2019,
and 104 in 2020. New diagnoses in
Rochester went from 66 in 2018 to
61 in 2019 to 79 in 2020.
Among all new diagnoses in
Rochester, “approximately 26 percent
were among individuals below
25 years of age, 54 percent reported
history of MSM (sic) and 45
percent were non-Hispanic Black
individuals,” the advisory said.
The state health department noted
earlier increases in new HIV diagnoses
in Monroe County in an October
2020 advisory.
Among transgender people living
in both counties, a “total of 13
individuals of transgender experience
The New York State Department of Health’s offi ce in Rochester, where offi cials have warned of an
increase in HIV diagnoses in western New York.
were diagnosed in the past 18
months across both regions, compared
to only one in the 18 months
prior to the increases,” the advisory
said.
The individuals who were newly
diagnosed reported having “condomless
sex, sex with an anonymous
partner, and sex while intoxicated
and/or high on drugs,”
the advisory said. There is a large
body of science that correlates alcohol
and drug use with a higher
risk for acquiring HIV.
There have been upticks in gonorrhea
and syphilis in both counties
that prompted the state health department
to issue three advisories
in the 18 months prior to the release
of the August 30 advisory. Sexually
transmitted infections make it easier
for HIV to be transmitted.
“There has been an increase
in new HIV diagnoses concurrent
with gonorrhea and syphilis
diagnoses, as well as sexually
transmitted infection (STI) diagnoses
among persons living with
GOOGLE MAPS
diagnosed HIV, over the prior 18
months,” the advisory said.
While the numbers are small,
the percent increases are large —
and most importantly, each new
diagnosis was preventable.
The advisory listed a number of
steps the county health departments
could take to stop new HIV
infections, including getting more
at-risk people on pre-exposure prophylaxis
(PrEP), which gives anti-
HIV drugs to HIV-negative people
to prevent HIV infection, and postexposure
prophylaxis (PEP), which
gives anti-HIV drugs to HIV-negative
people with a recent exposure
to the virus to keep them from becoming
infected. Both drug regimens
are highly effective at preventing
HIV infection when used
correctly. Treating HIV-positive
people keeps them healthy and reduces
the amount of virus in their
bodies to the point that they cannot
infect others.
The state health department also
recommended increased HIV testing.
HEALTH
“In 2021 so far, contractors receiving
state health department
funds for targeted testing have provided
HIV testing to just 8 and 34
Black MSM across the entire Western
and Finger Lakes…regions, respectively,”
the advisory said. “In
comparison, such providers tested
115 Black MSM on average in 2017-
2019 in each region. Providers in
these communities are hereby directed
to use state health department
funds to increase outreach
to Black MSM and their social networks,
for the purposes of providing
HIV testing, PrEP, and other needed
services to interrupt transmission.”
It does not appear that there are
similar outbreaks elsewhere in the
state. A state health department
spokesperson told Gay City News
that no such advisories have been
issued in other regions of New York.
The New York City Department
of Health and Mental Hygiene declined
to release any data on new
diagnoses in advance of its December
release of its HIV Surveillance
Annual Report for 2020.
There is a long history of the
needs of Black gay and bisexual
men being underfunded and largely
unaddressed in the state and city.
“I think we, the Black gay community,
should put our energies
where the fi re is at and the fi re is
in upstate New York,” said Gary
English, who once ran People of
Color in Crisis, an HIV prevention
group in Brooklyn, and has been
advocating for increased funding
for prevention efforts targeting
Black gay men for years. “The state
health department needs to know
that Black gay men are watching
this go down and it’s not going to
go down without people noticing.”
➤ JOHNSON, from p.4
Black trans woman incarcerated
at Rikers, was left alone by guards
in her “restrictive housing” cell as
she suffered a fatal health emergency.
The case drew widespread
attention to the issue of cash bail,
elevated calls to end solitary confi
nement, and placed a spotlight on
the criminalization of sex workers.
The city ultimately reached a
$5.9 million settlement with Polanco’s
family after investigations
revealed she was neglected by jail
offi cials, leading Mayor de Blasio to
suspend 17 correction offi cers.
“Rikers is a death trap,” Beverly
Tillery, the executive director
of the New York City Anti-Violence
Project, said in a written statement.
“We have been sounding the
alarm about the dangers at Rikers
for several years now, but despite
pledges to close the facility, city offi
cials continue to drag their feet,
leaving thousands of New Yorkers
in peril. Esias Johnson and Layleen
Polanco should have been
released on bail, but instead were
left to languish at Rikers for weeks
with no end in sight.”
Johnson’s calling hours will be
held at 2 p.m. on September 25
at the Kevin B. Corneau Funeral
Home at 486 Main Street in Haverhill,
Massachusetts. The family
set up a fundraiser via Facebook
to help raise money for his burial.
GayCityNews.com | September 23 - October 6, 2021 5
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