'Magic' Johnson contiunes campaign against HIV

WASHINGTON (NNPA) - In the ongoing battle that rages in the war against HIV/AIDS, former basketball star Earvin "Magic" Johnson continues to champion the cause with the "I Stand With Magic" campaign. Since announcing his own HIV-positive status in 1991, Johnson has become the face of the HIV virus in that he has successfully lived with it for the past 17 years, proving that contracting the disease does not have to be a death sentence.With flourishing businesses in 22 states and almost 90 cities amounting to a net worth or $700 million, a cushy analyst spot with TNT and a host of other lucrative endeavors, Johnson continues to live at the pace to which he has grown accustomed and has dedicated much of his time to having open dialogues to prevent others from contracting the disease. "This is the pace I like, the pace I enjoy," he admitted. "I'm a worker and I wouldn't want to change anything."

In the "I Stand With Magic" campaign, Johnson and the Magic Johnson Foundation have teamed with drug firm Abbott to launch this program which focuses on educating and mobilizing African Americans and other minority communities to get tested for HIV and seek treatment. Thus far, the movement has embarked upon a 10-city tour visiting churches, high schools, and colleges in effort to raise awareness.

"We have a problem that we need to address just like any other major big city. I've been going around now, this is part of my 201st church and 200 high schools trying to get the word out," Johnson stated during his visit to Detroit's Second Ebenezer Church earlier this month, "Abbott and I, and the Magic Johnson Foundation, have come together. In some places we've seen the numbers come down, but then there's other places like D.C., Detroit, and some the other bigger cities that are not coming down. So we have to do something about this and that's why we're here."

In teaming with Abbott, who has been a leader in HIV/AIDS research since the early years of the epidemic, Johnson's hope is that "I Stand With Magic" will encourage individual populations to take advantage of community resources and help keep loved ones healthy.

Though his walk has not been easy, his success in living with the disease has proven to be both a blessing and curse to the message he seeks to impart.

"I think what's harder to get across is really the message, other than living with it," he stated, "I think because the message has to resonate with the people, because still there's an attitude out there that it can't happen to me. I've been the blessing because I'm out here talking about it and we brought a face to it, and then people got serious about it. And I've been the curse because then people say 'well if I get it, I can be like Magic and live for a long time', and we know today somebody died from HIV."

"The most difficult thing is just taking the meds," he went on to say, "you know, when you're not used to doing that and I would say that was the most difficult [part]; just over and over again training your mind to just do it. That's the one that I stress, is make sure you take your meds . when I first announced [my status] everybody's like, 'ok, I'm going to get tested'. And now what we're seeing is a lot of people go get tested, but they just don't go back for their results. We have to change that."

He cited regular testing as being a crucial factor in having a chance to stay on top of the virus. "With early detection, just like me, you can be here for long time. We're finding in our communities you wait till you get sick and then something's wrong with you. Now, even the drugs are not going to work. That's why we're encouraging everyone to go out and get tested."

Statistics show that the numbers continue to increase year after year. In Michigan alone, at the end of 2006 African Americans made up 57% of persons living with the virus, and approximately two-thirds (64%) of all persons currently living with HIV in Michigan are located in the Detroit Metro Area, where 45 percent of the state's population resides.

"The devastating thing is that when you look at the numbers here in Michigan is that [ages] 13-20, the numbers are rising with people coming down with HIV," said Johnson. "And the people 20-24, it's the same situation. So, we have a problem with young people. We have to somehow affect change when you think about HIV and AIDS, not only in the state of Michigan, but here in Detroit."

For more information about the "I Stand With Magic" program and the Magic Johnson Foundation, please visit www.magicjohnson.com and for more information about Abbott, please visit www.abbott.com.