Public Employee Press

Fighting AIDS

For one activist, it’s a personal battle

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

DC 37 members on their jobs and in their union locals have been actively participating in the fight against AIDS for several years. Union activists help raise thousands of dollars every spring at the annual AIDS Walk New York in Central Park.

For World AIDS Day, this year, as they have for many years, a dedicated contingent of DC 37 staff, local presidents and retirees mounted an aggressive education campaign in the union lobby. They passed out dozens of free condoms, commemorative red ribbons, and AIDS/HIV prevention pamphlets in English, Spanish and Chinese throughout the day on Nov. 30 and gave passing members a chance to sign the union’s AIDS quilt.

“Every year it gets bigger. More and more people stop to sign the quilt and pick up free condoms and pamphlets,” said retiree Arlene Tuff. Women’s Committee Chair and Local 957 President Walthene Primus, Lesbian and Gay Issues Committee Chair and Local 436 President Judith Arroyo, and other retirees and members joined Tuff in the campaign.

For Arroyo, who was elected president of United Federation of Nurses and Epidemiologists Local 436 last year, AIDS is a stark reality that hits home. “The face of AIDS has changed,” said the local president, who was diagnosed six years ago. “And I’m one of those new faces.”

Those new faces now include younger people. According to the Centers for Disease Control, half of the new infections now occur in people under the age of 25. Senior citizens who are now living longer and leading more sexually active lives because of drugs like Viagra are also among the new faces. Once seen as a problem for East and West Coast gay white males and drug users who share needles, the disease is now claiming more lives among African Americans and Latinos, Southerners and Midwesterners, women and the poor.

Six years ago Arroyo was working her regular shift when she came to the aid of fellow nurses attempting to insert an air tube in a patient’s throat. After the tube was inserted, the patient vomited blood, which spilled over Arroyo’s hands. She always protected her hands with gloves — except this time. Earlier that same day Arroyo had suffered a cut on her thumb that required several stitches.

As a standard procedure she got tested for the HIV virus that causes AIDS every three months and tested negative. Six years later things changed. “Then I got this rash all over my body, so my doctor suggested another test,” recalled Arroyo, whose weight fell to 108 pounds. She was misdiagnosed for two years.

“I didn’t fall into any of the standard categories,” said Arroyo, who has no history of intravenous drug use and is a lesbian. Today she leads an active life with a full workload plus the major responsibility of serving as president of her local.

“I’m fortunate because the treatment has advanced considerably,” said Arroyo, who visits her doctor once every three months and takes two pills daily. “Medication could be very expensive and easily run into thousands of dollars a month,” adds Arroyo. “That’s why we have to fight for better health care in this country.”

As she passed out condoms and pamphlets on World Aids Day Arroyo and her team patiently advised everyone who approached the table to be informed and get tested. “All it takes is just one incident,” she told a young lady.