Introduction

Cleveland is renowned for its cultural diversity which includes the Hispanic community. The Latino population is deeply rooted in Cleveland, having a history that dates back more than fifty years ago. The Hispanic population in Cleveland surged in the 1940’s and 1950’s with a program known as “Operation Boot Strap.” This program airlifted Puerto Rican’s into Cleveland to fulfill the strong demand for labor in the steel mills (36). An estimated 75% of the Hispanic population in Cleveland is Puerto Rican (32), most of who reside in the neighborhood of Clark-Fulton. Clark-Fulton is home to the largest concentration of Puerto Rican’s in Ohio and their population is continuously rising (4). The Hispanic population in Ohio grew 17% by the 1980’s and Puerto Rican’s accounted for 80% of the increase (26). As the Puerto Rican population in Cleveland increases, so do health concerns that affect the Hispanic neighborhoods, especially those of HIV/AIDS.

   Hispanic communities, especially those of Puerto Rican decent, are highly susceptible to contracting HIV compared to other minority neighborhoods. According to a study conducted by the CDC more than half of new AIDS cases have been among black and Hispanic populations. While among immigrants, the AIDS rates of cases contracted in the United States are highest among Puerto Ricans (3). In Cleveland, the rate of Hispanics infected (915 per 100,000) with HIV/AIDS is almost twice as much as the black rate (610 per 100,000) and over three times the white rate (313 per 100,000) (3).  When examining the HIV/AIDS cases of both Puerto Rican women and adolescents, the unease is heightened.

Across the nation, AIDS incidence rates are higher for Hispanics than any other ethnic group and a concentration of cases has been found among women and girls (18). Hispanic women are notorious for their lack of knowledge and dangerous sexual practices. One study suggests that nearly one quarter of Hispanic women engaged in high risk sexual behaviors (21).  Hispanic women also have the lowest rates of condom use (23). The lack of knowledge, cultural inferiority, and abuse of women in the Latino culture contribute to the grave numbers of Puerto Rican women infected with HIV in Cleveland. By creating a specified health seminar directed at these problems as well as a health seminar in Lincoln West public high school, the women and adolescents in the Clark-Fulton community will be better educated and make safer sexual decisions which will decrease the spread of AIDS.

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