AIDS rate remains
constant in Hawaii

Despite the availability of powerful antiretroviral drugs that help HIV patients avoid progressing to an AIDS diagnosis, the number of newly reported AIDS cases in Hawaii has remained stable during the past six years, health officials told the Honolulu Advertiser. "We would think by now we would be seeing fewer cases since treatment has been available for some time," Peter Whiticar, head of the state health department's HIV and sexually transmitted disease prevention branch, told the newspaper.

The stability of the AIDS rate suggests that many HIV-positive people are being diagnosed with HIV disease only after they've already progressed to AIDS, that some HIV patients are not receiving antiretroviral therapy, and that some patients who are being treated are becoming resistant to their medications, Whiticar said.

Gay and bisexual men accounted for 62% of the 109 newly reported AIDS cases in 2005, said health officials. Caucasians accounted for 58% of the new cases, Asians 12%, and Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders 8%. Since 1983, Hawaii has reported 2,847 cumulative AIDS cases and 1,542 AIDS-related deaths in the state. Health officials estimate that there are about 3,200 HIV-positive people currently living in Hawaii. (Advocate.com)