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Atlanta’s Morehouse School of Medicine today plays host to
the White House LGBT Conference on HIV/AIDS, where leading experts will discuss
the national epidemic. The lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population
has been disproportionately impacted by the disease and its stigma, said Dr.
David Satcher, a former US surgeon general who is now at Morehouse.
“With early screening and early diagnosis, we can actually
prevent the spread of this disease. Until we can get this group of people
engaged in our efforts ... we’re not going to be successful,” Satcher said.
Georgia is among the top 10 states for new HIV diagnoses.
And with 957 patients in need of help, the waiting list for its AIDS Drug
Assistance Program is the longest among the eight states with current lists.
Demand for help from the state-run ADAPs has boomed in recent years due to the
poor economy. Georgia and the Southeast have been especially hard-hit due to a
large number of minority and poor residents, said Dr. Patrick O’Neal, director
of health promotion for the Georgia Department of Public Health.
O’Neal said the state has numerous initiatives responding to
the epidemic, but he added, “I am very concerned we don’t have a single vision
of what we hope to accomplish.”
Jeff Graham, executive director of the LGBT advocacy group
Georgia Equality, said cooperation among the state, activists and others is
growing.
The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the
quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make
healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The
Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.
TOGETHER WE
REMAIN STRONG!
