An increasing number of Hispanic women and African-Americans are being diagnosed with AIDS in Stanislaus County, making them the fastest-growing groups of new AIDS cases.

The troubling news comes from health officials and activists on the eve of World AIDS Day, the annual event that attempts to reduce the spread of HIV through education.

"AIDS is still around, but now different populations are being affected," said Martha Silva-Thwaites of the Stanislaus Community Assistance Program. "Prevention has to be addressed for the sake of our younger generations."

African-Americans represent 8 percent of the current 518 AIDS cases in Stanislaus County, despite making up less than 2 percent of the county population.

Hispanics represent 19 percent of the county's AIDS cases, according to statistics kept by Stanislaus County's Health Services Agency. Although that's less than the 25 percent Hispanic population in the county, the number of cases is growing faster than other groups.

In San Joaquin County, African-Americans make up 8 percent of the county's population but account for 31 percent of the 708 AIDS cases. Hispanics make up 14 percent of AIDS cases.

Too often, people in those groups are being diagnosed late in the disease's development, making treatment much more difficult, said Jean Yokotobi, HIV coordinator for the county's Health Services Agency.

Silva-Thwaites added that women in those groups "aren't going to feel comfortable addressing the fact they are HIV positive. They won't go out and find the means to take care of themselves."

To curtail the spread of HIV -- the human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS -- the Health Services Agency has added African-Americans and Spanish-speaking Hispanics to the list of groups they specifically are trying to reach.

"We're seeing the increase more in Spanish-speaking Hispanics," Yokotobi said. "Those who are second and third generation are getting information. But for those who are monolingual, it's harder getting the messages out there to them."

Starting next year, the Health Services Agency will expand its outreach by working with community churches, farm labor camps and food-processing plants, places where people tend to congregate.

Dan Thwaites, a physician at the county's HIV clinic, said the trend in Stanislaus County mirrors what's happening nationally.

"We're a microcosm of the bigger picture," he said. "We see one to two HIV patients a week, many of them heterosexual women who have had children.

"We're not talking about a homosexual disease. AIDS doesn't care about one's sex or age. The only way we can stop the spread of HIV is for all voices to address the issue."

One other group that activists across the nation hope to reach during this year's World AIDS Day is young people.

According to the World Health Organization, half of all new HIV infections are among people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. Up to 60 percent of all HIV infections occur by age 20.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee