(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Lawmakers and supporters call for more funding to target Black people who need to know how to stay healthy, especially in the area of HIV and AIDS.
“The funding does not go to Black-led organizations to increase awareness and relativity to prevention,” said Creola Kizart Hampton, a Black healthcare advocate.
“When this disease was at a high rate in the white community, there were billions - billions! - of dollars going for education, prevention, treatment. There were billboards! Many of those organizations are still getting that money today and piecemealing it out, now that the face of AIDS is primarily African-American.”
Black people make up 14% of the state’s population, but roughly half of the state’s AIDS patients.
“Many of us are dying from AIDS, but we are dying from so many other illnesses because of the health disparities,” said State Rep. Camilly Lilly (D-Chicago). “We don’t have education. We don’t have opportunity. We don’t have housing. We don’t have healthcare.”
Feb. 7 is Black HIV and AIDS Awareness Day.
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