Government, Churches Spread Warnings About HIV-AIDS BALTIMORE, MD (wypr) - It's a recent Sunday morning inside `Set the Captives Free' church in Woodlawn. As the choir sings, dozens of men, women and children sway, many with eyes closed, arms outstretched to the heavens.

This large, mostly African-American congregation has come to hear the word of God.

This day, however, they also hear from Dr. Gregory Branch, head of the Baltimore County Health Department. He delivers a sermon of sorts about HIV-AIDS.

"We know how to diagnose it. We have treatment for this! So why is it that every time we turn around, somebody is being [diagnosed] positive because of this disease?"

The Baltimore-Towson metropolitan area now has the second-highest rate of AIDS in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

Meanwhile, the numbers are growing disproportionately among African-Americans, including heterosexual black women. Indeed, blacks comprise a whopping 90-percent of new HIV and AIDS cases in Baltimore. The numbers have also increased in several Maryland counties.

In light of such statistics, Pastor Karen Bethea says the crisis is one the church must address.

"One of the big things I aim to do is remove the stigma that's related to HIV. Oftentimes people don't mention it, don't talk about it, because they're embarrassed."

"Set the Captives Free" offers regular HIV testing and other resources for its members. Rev. Bethea says some in her flock are living with the disease, and need acceptance.

"Teach people to embrace them and to love them. And not treat them like lepers or outcasts. That's so important. And I think the church is such a powerful place. The pulpit is a powerful place. And it has to be used responsibly. And if we'll deal with it then people will face up to it."

Locally, the HIV-AIDS issue is getting renewed attention. Last Wednesday at City Hall, Mayor Sheila Dixon, health officials, merchants and labor unions launched a new campaign called "Stopping AIDS Is Everyone's Business."

More than 150 retail outlets in East and Southeast Baltimore areas with high HIV numbers will receive training on how to deliver prevention messages to customers. They'll also display posters and decals. Mayor Dixon says stopping the spread of HIV is a deeply personal issue.

"You know, I have a brother who died from AIDS. And so, I know what it's like to live with someone whose life was functioning and doing everything he needed to do. But he missed out on great blessings. Seeing his children grow up. He would have been a grandparent now. And to see that, and what it is that we could have done, to prevent that. Believe me, we did everything in our family that we could. When he got it together in some ways it was too late." But it's not too late for us to get a handle on this for others."

Stephanie Ransom, a Baltimore County AIDS educator, travels throughout the community, promoting condom usage and other safer sexual practices. Some people heed her message, she says, but others continue to expose themselves and others to the virus.

"When do you tell a person that you're HIV positive? And one person said, `On a need-to-know basis. If I feel like they need to know, then I'll tell `em. If I don't feel like I'm putting them at risk, I won't tell `em.'"

As Dr. Branch finishes addressing the congregation at `Set the Captives Free,' he urges them to be tested for HIV, and to take the information he's shared to heart.

"I want you to understand it, get educated by it and don't walk out, having not changed your behaviors. Amen. [Applause] Because, it's one thing to be able to listen to something, but if you don't change your behavior that's a problem. Right?"

I'm Donna Marie Owens, reporting in Baltimore and Woodlawn, for 88-1, WYPR.

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