Birmingham, Alabama

Community Profile: Birmingham, Alabama

Community Characteristics

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005–2007 American Community Survey or U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report: Cases of HIV Infection and AIDS in the United States, 2007. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, 2009.

The Birmingham group was quite outspoken in its views, with one participant introducing himself as “married 31 years to my high school sweetheart” and another who announced his concern that the government is “kind of sacrificing free market principles” in trying to fix the economy.

Yet even with these conservative viewpoints, the group overall was supportive of the government providing services to those with HIV, such as inexpensive medications, mental health services and free testing to those who request it. Though there was general opposition to allowing condoms in schools, there was agreement that sex education in at least some form should be taught in the schools. When it came to needle exchange programs, though, the majority firmly rejected spending government funds for such a program.

Participants generally understood that HIV can lead to AIDS and that the condition is manageable with the right medication. They also understood that unprotected sex and needle-sharing can lead to contracting HIV, but a few said that using a condom did not significantly reduce the risk, or as one put it, “I’m old school—even with protection nowadays, I think you’re taking a risk if you don’t know who you’re with.”

And though they understood how HIV is transmitted, there was concern about allowing HIV-positive teachers or dentists to interact with the focus group participants or their children. Some even believed that there is a law in Alabama requiring teachers to inform authorities if they are HIV-positive.

Perceptions were mixed on whether African-Americans have a higher incidence of HIV/AIDS, with the African-American participants and some whites saying this is true and others echoing one person who said, “[Y]ears ago, maybe…but I think nowadays [HIV/AIDS is] like cancer. It doesn’t have any particular color or anything it goes after.”

Interestingly, many thought that Hispanics would have a lower incidence, with one participant saying, “You just don’t hear of a lot of Hispanics with HIV,” and another saying it is because “[m]ost Hispanics are Catholic.”

One group that participants all agreed had a higher risk was young people. Many agreed with one participant who said young people these days are more likely to engage in risky behavior because “[t]hey now think there’s medicines to cure everything…all you need to do is take a couple pills and they’ll be fine... They take more risks now because they know that there are people checking into cures for it...”

Five people, including all three African-Americans in the group, knew someone who is HIV-positive or had died from AIDS.

Discussions about health care dominated much of the conversation in the Birmingham group. At the outset, two participants wrote down HIV/AIDS as the most important health problem facing the country today. One participant talked in particular about his cancer, drawing a connection between his difficulty in dealing with insurance for medications and the challenges that those who are HIV-positive must face.

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