Increasing AIDS Cases In El Paso Called An ‘Epidemic’

The number of diagnosed AIDS patients is on the rise in El Paso, according to one organization that helps diagnose and treat the incurable disease.

The Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe is the largest AIDS care provider in the Borderland, and the only one in the city.

Jorge Salazar, the community services administrator for La Fe, told ABC-7 his group documented 19 new cases in all of 2009.

But this year, 34 new patients have been diagnosed in La Fe’s offices alone.

“El Paso continues to be at risk,” Salazar said. “Our young people are at risk, our women are at risk, our elderly is at risk.”

Salazar said the disease is not discriminating when it comes to age or gender. He told ABC-7 he has seen patients as young as 14, as old as 55, coming in for testing.

The number of AIDS diagnoses has been increasing in the Sun City. In May, ABC-7 talked with the city’s Department of Public Health about a jump in reported cases. Both the city and La Fe agree when it comes to a reason for the increase.

“People think it’s over,” Salazar said, adding that due to improved treatment, those who are living with AIDS sometimes don’t look sick. But, he continued, “We have not found a solution to the disease. There is no cure.”

Salazar believes a lack of federal funding for AIDS awareness and education programs has created an “out of sight, out of mind” feeling about the incurable disease, leading to decreased vigilance and use of safety precautions.

In honor of World AIDS Day, health care leaders across the city are urging anyone and everyone to take the time to get tested.

Free tests are available at the following locations Wednesday:

UTEP East Union 500 West University 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

UTEP College of Health Sciences 1101 N. Campbell 9 a.m. – noon

EPCC Valle Verde Campus Cafeteria Annex 5:30 – 9 p.m.

Premiere Cinema (sponsored by Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe) Inside Bassett Place 10 a.m. – 7 p.m.