Copyright 2005 North Jersey Media Group Inc.,

AN ALARMING statistic came out of a recent international AIDS conference: The HIV infection rate among African-Americans has doubled.

Blacks are now 10 times more likely than whites to be infected with HIV, up from five times as likely in the early 1990s.

The scary numbers lead to a scarier question: Doesn't anyone care?

The darkening face of AIDS has coincided with a rise in public apathy about the disease.

You don't see as many celebrity events these days to raise money for AIDS research. You also don't hear many public officials talking about the need to stem the HIV infection rate among blacks.

In the vice presidential debate last fall, Vice President Dick Cheney said he wasn't aware black women were 13 times more likely to die of AIDS than white women. And Democrat John Edwards spoke only about AIDS in foreign countries and health care generally.

One reason AIDS has dropped from the headlines is that new drug therapies mean the disease is no longer a certain death sentence.

But it probably would get more attention if HIV infected one out of 50 whites, not one out of 50 blacks.

To counter the public inattention, it's more crucial than ever that black leaders speak up.

They must demand changes in health policy that could slow the scourge, and work harder to raise awareness in their community of the risks of infection.

As African-American Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., said at a recent forum on AIDS among blacks, "If we're going to tackle these issues, we're going to have to do it ourselves."

Here in New Jersey, however, the Rev. Reginald Jackson of the Black Ministers Council is apparently too busy pushing for taxpayer-funded vouchers to private schools to say much about AIDS.

And some other black leaders in the state actively oppose health measures that could slow the spread of HIV.

More than half of HIV cases in New Jersey are traceable to addicts using contaminated needles. Drug users get infected and pass the disease to sexual partners and children, a major reason why the state has the nation's highest HIV infection rate among women.

But New Jersey is one of only two states that bar addicts from any access to clean needles, by prohibiting sales of syringes without a prescription and banning needle-exchange programs.

Incredibly, State Assemblyman Ronald Rice, an African-American who is also Newark's deputy mayor, is among those fighting vociferously to keep these restrictions. He says giving addicts needles perpetuates drug dependency, an assertion that flies in the face of findings by virtually every major national health organization.

Mr. Rice also says, rightly, that the state should spend more money on drug treatment. But he seems to ignore studies showing that well-run needle-exchange programs draw addicts into treatment.

There are black leaders in New Jersey working to combat AIDS.

State Sen. Nia Gill, D-Essex, whose district includes parts of Clifton and West Paterson, has spoken eloquently on the importance of allowing needle exchange. City officials in Camden and Atlantic City won state permission to start pilot needle-exchange programs in their cities.

Churches in Paterson and elsewhere have held programs on HIV and AIDS. And, as Record Staff Writer Paul Johnson has reported, some local health directors, such as Violet Cherry in Englewood, do extensive community education on AIDS.

Researchers at a recent AIDS conference said the doubling of the infection rate among blacks was due to such causes as drug addiction, poverty and inadequate health care. These aren't easy problems to fix.

But some actions that would help aren't so difficult - more widespread HIV testing, more drug treatment, more efforts to stem the infection among drug users.

More awareness, and more concern.

AIDS AMONG BLACKS SOAR

Percent of whites with AIDS

1991 - 0.2%

2001 - 0.2%

Percent of African-Americans with AIDS

1991 - 1.1%

2001 - 2.14%

Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey