Answers to NewsLetter Game
2005-12-01:

Know Your Numbers

1. There are 7 clinics within ARTC

2. How many domestic violence shelters are included in URI's programs? 4

3. The number of developmentally disabled residences maintained by URI is 3

4. How many RISE programs are available at ARTC? 2

5. ARTC and URI's facilities are located in 3 boroughs of New York City.

Benefits Jumble

1. Pension 2. Oxford 3. Transitchek

4. Vacation 5. Guardian 6. TDA's

7. MCU 8. Disabillity 9. Globalfit

10. Broadway Bucks

A Leader in the war on AIDS BY LINDA TARRANT-REID
2005-02-24:
EVEN WITH THE FRIGHTENING reports of a drug resistant superstrain of HIV in the news, Dr. Beny Primm sticks by his unwavering views on stopping the spread of the virus and preventing AIDS. "The key to stemming the tide of this epidemic is to know your status as to whether you are HIV-positive. And if you are, to get into treatment early and to practice safe sex," said Primm, executive director of Brooklyn's Addiction, Research and Treatment Corp. (ARTC). "And be monogamous," he added. Primm, who has been advising U.S. President about health issues since the Nixon administration, is a longtime warrior in the fight against HIV/AIDS, especially in the nation's hard-hit black communities. His perseverance and insight are why he was a key voice in the call for the U.S. government to provide historic, crucial AIDS funding for black communities around the nation. With input from Primm and other medical professionals and activists, as well as persistent urging by the Congressional Black Caucus, desperately needed funds began to be dedicated to the battle in the late 1990s. "I was chosen to go down to the CDC [federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention] to talk to them about what was happening in our community with HIV and Substance Abuse. And we were able, in 1998, to get President Clinton to dedicate money to communities of color by calling a national health emergency of HIV in the African American community. He designated that first year $158 million. And after that, each year it would increase Last year, it was $404 million that went to African-Americans and other minorities through local organizations. "I have worked consistently to make sure that more money went into the treatment of HIV, particularly as it was spreading among African-Americans," said Primm, 76, who became interested in AIDS and HIV infection in the early 1980s after noticing infections and symptoms in some of his patients. The Williamson, W.VA. born physician went to DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, got his medical degree at the University of Geneva in Switzerland completed his internship and residency in anesthesiology at Long Island's Meadowbrook Hospital [now Nassau University Medical Center] and took a job at Harlem Hospital. When the drug use was at epidemic proportions in the 1960s, he opened a treatment center in Harlem. In 1969, with encouragement from then-Mayor John Lindsay and Nicholas Katzenbach, U.S. attorney general under President Lyndon Johnson, he started ARTC in Brooklyn. Today at the not-for-profit facility, 580 staffers serve more than 3,500 clients, including battered women, developmentally disabled and severely challenged individuals and substance abusers. "New York City has the greatest number of HIV infected persons in the country," he said, noting a recent report from the city Health Department starting that one in 14 black men in Manhattan between the ages of 40 and 54 are infected with the virus. And in Harlem, the number is one in seven, he said. "Now, that is alarming and astonishing epidemiological data. This town should be up in arms every day about that problem in the African-American community," he said. In addition to these and other sobering statistics is the Feb. 11 warning from the Health Department that a 40-year-old gay man had been diagnosed with a possible superstrain of HIV that mutated into full-blown AIDS with a mere two months. "For this new, resistant virus to occur has caused a great deal of distress in all communities, especially the gay community," said Primm of this recent development. "But it should also give great warning to the heterosexual community because once it is in any community it can spread. And that should be a warning for everyone to not practice risky sex and to unquestionably be monogamous. Know your partner's status, know your own status and most of all get tested." Freelance writer and photographer Linda Tarrant-Reid is the author of "Discovering Black New York: A guide To The City's Most Important African American Landmarks Restaurants, Museums, Historical Sites and More." Visit www.blackny.com.

ARTC/URI Represented on Homeland Security Advisory Board
2003-03-24:
Calling his expertise "vital", Representative Donna Christian-Christensen, Chair, Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust (CBCHBT) revealed the appointment of Beny J. Primm, M.D. to that body's Homeland Security advisory board. Representative Christian Christensen, Delegate, Virgin Islands characterized health care access, including access to medication for treating drug dependency, as a critical factor in Homeland Security preparedness. Dr. Primm is known to be a strong advocate for national coordination of emergency drug treatment services during times of public crisis when thousands of persons may not be able to reach a treatment providers that has timely access to pertinent medical records. According to Primm, an emergency treatment plan is also needed to respond to the dramatic increase in substance abuse associated with times of crisis. The CBCHBT is charged with understanding the issues relating to bioterrorism and public health. Representative Christan Christensen, a medical doctor is also a member of the Select committee on Homeland Security and its Subcommittee on Health.