HIV/AIDS cases fall in Ventura County, Trump's pledge to eliminate virus highlights challenge

More funding. More education. More access to medication. More everything.

That's what it would take locally to achieve President Donald Trump's nationwide pledge to eliminate the virus that can lead to AIDS in 10 years, said Ventura County HIV prevention advocates. They cited an area infection rate that has ridden a roller coaster of the past two years.

In 2017, 85 new cases of HIV or AIDS emerged in Ventura County compared to 45 in 2016 and similar levels before that. The rise generated concern from local and state health officials who speculated about possible contributors ranging from increases in testing revealing more diagnoses to online hookup sites like Grindr.

Tentative data released at the end of January suggests cases fell last year but still remain at higher levels than in 2016. Tests revealed 55 new cases of HIV and six new cases of AIDS though both counts could still rise before the final report is released later this year, said public health officials.

MORE:Local protesters focus anger at Trump's emergency declaration at Presidents Day rally

"The numbers are still high," said Christopher Ornelas, program administrator for Ventura Public Health's HIV/AIDS efforts, noting the exact reasons for the escalation are at least partly unknown. "I think we just hit a boom in 2017." 

In his state of the union address, Trump announced a $500 million initiative he said would eliminate HIV in a decade. Administration officials later issued a plan that focuses on regions where more than half of the nation's HIV cases emerge, including 48 counties across the nation and eight in California.

Los Angeles County is one of the targeted areas. Ventura County is not, though Orenlas thinks the increased funding to a neighbor could be used as leverage to bring more resources here.  

The goal, the feds said, is to dramatically ramp up testing, treatment and access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, medication that can prevent HIV infections.

MORE:Panels from AIDS Quilt touring Ventura County

"I think it's an awesome goal to reach for," said Sal Fuentes, chair of the Ventura County HIV/AIDS Advisory Committee. "I challenge the president to start pouring more funding into organizations that combat HIV in our communities."

Fuentes contracted HIV when he was 15. In the early 1990s, he sued a Ventura urgent care clinic for refusing to treat him for a cut on his hand because of his HIV status. The case was the first of its kind filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

More education is needed in Ventura County on how HIV is contracted and how it can be avoided, Fuentes said. He pushed for accelerated social media campaigns as well as better access to condoms and PrEP medication that is unfamiliar not only to some people at risk of HIV but to doctors who can prescribe it.

Mostly, he cited the lack of government funding that pushed some advocacy organizations in Ventura County out of existence. 

Thrown out of Disneyland for a Trump flag?Here are more things you can't bring to the park

"Our funding has been raped and pillaged for other things," he said. "When that happens, you start seeing numbers going up."

The president's pledge was greeted skeptically by many in and around Ventura County.

"It is the height of hypocrisy for the Trump administration to pledge to fight HIV on one hand, while slashing funds for prevention and education with the other," said Julie Mickelberry, spokeswoman for the Planned Parenthood Central Coast Education Fund.

But Doug Halter, a Ventura HIV advocate diagnosed with AIDS in 1987, said the president's actions put the virus and condition back where they need to be: at center stage.

"The fact that he's trying to put it at the forefront astounds me," he said. "I'm in awe... for the first time in his presidency."

MORE:California's Supreme Court has thrown cities — and citizens — into chaos over local taxes

Halter said the virus won't be eliminated until there is a cure. But he thinks the 90 percent reduction identified by federal officials is reachable in Ventura County.

It will take a change in the way young people view the disease, said Halter who takes nine prescription medications a day. The drugs cost $5,000 a month, about $450 of that not covered by insurance.

Too often, people who may be at risk think the disease is curable or treated by simply taking a pill.

"Young people don't have a clue what transpired," he said of a pandemic that has killed 35 million people since the 1980s, according to the World Health Organization.

'We're nowhere close right now'

Halter tells his story in schools 50 times a year to raise awareness and set the record straight. Such efforts in the county will have to mushroom if new cases of HIV are going to be reduced by 90 percent.

"There are still schools I can't get in and talk to people because of the taboo that has always existed around AIDS," Halter said.

Ventura County Public Health's AIDS program is aligned with a statewide effort embracing the slogan of "Getting to Zero." The efforts include designating PrEP navigators who help patients obtain medications that can be unaffordable.

Last year:HIV/AIDS cases nearly doubled in Ventura County

Other goals include expanding testing programs so every patient in every emergency room across Ventura County is given the option of being tested for HIV. Other cornerstones of local efforts include reaching out more effectively to partners of people who test positive and making sure people are linked to the health care system.

Ornelas thinks a 90 percent reduction is a reachable goal. Fuentes said he wants to be optimistic, too but noted reaching the target would take a huge increase in support and funding.

"We're nowhere close right now," Fuentes said. "That's the reality of it."

Last year:Ventura County HIV increase triggers concerns about hookup apps