Show A6 The Salt Lake Tribune NATION AIDS in Appalachia Is a Dying Shame Death Is the Easy Part As Area Victims Fight lions here no counseling" said Ray who like Rick would be interviewed only if his last name and hometown were not disclosed Rick was beaten with baseball bats years ago when some men found out he was gay "I don't tell a whole lot of people 'cause I'd get killed I'd be walking down the street somewhere and I'd get my brains blown out I can live with HIV it's just the other things that make it tough" The core of Appalachia is in the Bible Belt and many here say AIDS is a just scourge on homosexuals Some institutions — including school districts and local governments — refuse to acknowledge AIDS is a problem in rural America even as it reaches increasing numbers of women The disease also must take its place in line with numerous other social and economic problems that have beset the region since the decline of the coal industry in the 1980s This has led to scant education and no outreach programs in many counties where unemployment has reached 40 percent The Appalachian AIDS Coalition in Virginia serves 114 clients in 12 counties on an annual budget of $5000 In eastern Kentucky the state has one outreach worker who handles 22 of 60 reported AIDS cases spread across 31 counties or more than 10000 square miles In West Virginia HIV case manone ager covers 24 counties where nearly 200 cases of AIDS have been reported Despite such factors in the eight counties of extreme eastern Tennessee the total number of AIDS cases has grown from six in 1985 to 165 today In the core AppalachiP- 1''!:k!ri of eastern Kentucky thel e were a total of three AIDS cases in 1984 The mber is up to 94 cases today i two large rural regions of West Virginia the HIV infection rate is nearly 3 percentage points higher than the state average And in one health district consisting of six rural counties women make up 15 percent of all AIDS cases and 45 percent of all HIV cases Nationwide women made up 21 percent of all HIV cases in 1993 "It is present in these counties and it is growing unchecked" said David Mawn director of AIDS Volunteers in Lexington "We have rural counties where testing and education is not happening It's a shame because we have a window to react to it before it becomes the proportionate level it is in the cities I don't want to wait until it explodes" Fear and Prejudice By Jeffrey Fleishman KNIGHT-RIDDE- NEWS SERVICE LEXINGTON Ky — Rick sits dying in the dusk that slips down from the mountains and cools his house by the creek He laughs at the way people are One girl said she had heard his illness forced the government to take away his driver license Another invited him to a pool party and then whispered that he could not go in the water He stays off Main Street already having been the target of a chucked beer bottle and slashed car tires "They'd just as soon get rid of you" says Rick once the busiest hairdresser in a gossipy little town burrowed in the Appalachian Mountains "We try to keep it a secret" he says crossing his brittle arms forcing his weak throat to swallow "My family's biggest fear is that my little nephew will have to live with this legacy He wouldn't get invited to birthday parties And my brother works in the mines Coal miners are cruel and I wouldn't want him to get into fistlights Please please don't use my name" In Appalachia there is no meaner and lonelier way to die than by AIDS Much of the nation has put away its fear and prejudice of the disease but in these rugged mountains people like Rick are seen as a threat to a culture AIDS is viewed as a strictly homosexual disease and an affront to the traditional roles this region has set for men and women Hate has sprung from ignorance and from eastern Kentucky to southwestern Virginia there is a belief that God has left a deadly virus in hollows once rich in coal People with AIDS live in isolation and speak in hushed voices checking their surroundings to see who may be listening Many of them travel for hours to large cities because local doctors refuse to treat them Some have prescriptions mailed in from other places so local pharmacists cannot spread rumors One man in Kentucky had AIDS literature mailed e to a box he rented two counties away from his home Members of a Baptist church in "There's a potential for clustering of AIDS that can go undetected for years" said Ardis Dee Hoven president of the Kentucky Medical Association who treats many of the AIDS cases in eastern Kentucky She blames much of care fathe problem on long-tercilities consistently turning away AIDS patients and a religious conservatism that abhors talking about sex and death "If I went to Harlan County in eastern Kentucky and said 'condom' I'd get shot" said Hoven later adding "One woman told me she and her husband don't go on vacation to Florida anymore because they're afraid they'll catch AIDS by sleeping in motels I just about fell out of my chair" Doctors also have reacted to the disease with anxiety and prejudice A 1993 random survey done class at Eastern by a social-worKentucky University found that 12 of 20 physicians in the town of Richmond would not treat AIDS patients Two others would not accept AIDS patients on Medic k 0 post-offic- southwestern Virginia turned away a woman with AIDS and then washed her pew with Lysol "There are no AIDS organiza E Z hard-workin- 112 PrOd-- 0 redneck country people and the presence of AIDS shatters that If you don't fit into that mold then you just don't fit in" TROY TOVVNSEND AIDS patient s S ul IX tillL 60- -r tit4ir illt ol Plit -- Cooling INSTALLED I Economical 2 Ton Coil This unit will cool approx 1200 sq feet Offer expires July 31 1994 7 Financing available OAC for 11FILL customers - some models Air-K- o 01 3503 S Main SI0 PRC E-L- POWER HEATING & CONDITIONING PPDEESSIONAL DEALER UTAH AIR 266-650- 0 e 101:1iP l'ostallatir ree rociama iten Fot (IS WEST Slut! Bolan &stomas Product Installation Additional Line Free Charge Free Line Free Free Calling Services Free Forwarding Services Free Premium Listings Free Cu Ill the lights Everyone has a home security on and locking the deadbolt Others take more drastic measures Yet one in four American homes is victimized by crime Deadbolts and lightbulbs can't call the police in the case of a break-isystem-leavin- g n An ADT Security System Can nere's a reason ADT Security Systems helps protect more fortune 500 companies small businesses and homes than any other company in the world: An ADT Security System Helps Protect Your Home When you're shopping for a security system call ADT Compare the differences For only 8395 ADT will help protect your home and family better than anyone Call today for a Free Home Security Review - 1 i 11:: Ir :H i IF 11 li II It 11 11 Ul Heating Business Voice Messaging Service" Me Polka AJ nemt rirtri Ira UfaandEPzugaz Products Caller ID— —6Y t I II p 1 :y Stand-By- - v 6 1161e I ttit 9 rCK The 4 ly)4rC:all now eh-- ILI n "NAtv1411'1E-211111-1-- 4 4 364-769- - I4 ' I' MINITURVAREHOUS 1Pir:tr91 CEZEYli lights until they disappeared where the road bent around the creek - C0-xittiti- cHEstr$3999 This $395 Security Silva T-c- i p!WL' 4 their slippers Twenty pills waited on a nightstand for him His count was well below 200 His throat burned with infection "I was 32 last week" he said really didn't think I'd make it" A car passed his front door and Rick a little nervous cocked his head his eyes following the tail- FitmEllg7sititaTimsli APtiset k Back in the mountain twilight Rick rose slowly from his couch his body pale and light as driftwood his feet barely stepping in 0-- pet Fang tPtJ big-cit- them" doctor visits Sometimes the money runs out before he gets his prescriptions filled Mawn whose organization is starting outreach groups in eastern Kentucky said the key to stemming AIDS in rural areas was portraying it as a community dilemma Many of those with the disease have found refuge in their families which are the core of Appalachian culture But the larger community still regards "ith WER y plague "That's why much of the literature coming out of the cities just doesn't work here" said Mawn "In the mountains graphic descriptions about sex are too aggressive They have to be toned down You have to make them realize their children's lives are at stake Then they'll come around But now they are scared and don't want to accept what's upon "This town is typical wai - (1) AIDS as a 'and - ' 4141 g - Cd 4-DRA- aid Haven acknowledged that some doctors were turning away AIDS cases because they feared they would lose other patients Troy Townsend is used to being turned away He and scores of other AIDS patients have returned to their mountain roots to die after contracting the illness in cities across America These patients have added an extra burden on already tight resources and have shaken the pillars of the culture that nurtured their families for generations "This town is typical redneck country people and the presence of AIDS shatters that" said Townsend a bony man in a blue turtleneck who planted geraniums outside his small white home "Even if they wanted to feel compassion they couldn't because it would shatter that image They're raised as country men If you don't fit into that mold then you just don't fit in" A few years ago Townsend was earning more than $30000 a year at IBM But AIDS has left him as impoverished as the county he's living in He collects WO a month and relies on Medicare Medicaid and donations from AIDS Volunteers for his pills and rt 0 vil k INA11 0 " -- 7Z—No state-funde- d Sunday July 24 1994 The installation is free The phone call is free The consultation is free And hey this newspaper wasn't exactly a fortune Basically all we're asking for is some ofyour time CO us and ve11 discuss your business a2 the products listed above and all of the viays they helpyou run things the wayyou want The Free Irstallaton Proclamation is a really great way to tly many of new innovatve products and smices vth very Itle risk Th esmall We encourage yOU to BusinessGroup offer this must because today end on August 12 By the way that athice is free too t -8- 00-603-60X IIR'IVEST" 4 Is Home Even When 'You're Not- becunry Seceproty Srotoongs fcr L7 tusilts5 ::t5orTf-- 5 ittrr ri o! tri:JuOr C7er : 14 Nrl'iat criLr øii mo k t: AIgus! e 2 J24 Sont at' 17 1774- narqr a!Sp:i Ulr t'3177'er 7ir Synemt TI tclaiprnct no111L a:ior rtaw tz' bet-- "'at - zt wit !Er re - rA'auor)k or olt 011tcon3 basi: tusrif:s inf or 'Cel- tvoct trtnsaprtg nallbo 5yj0)11 hve:)YX C 25 174 L Cuhfr 5 'LIT 2! a allatht t)rr CCr?rn1711:alK115 rvr1 Lrlf :r11 |