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About half of new AIDS diagnoses in
the United States occur in just nine Southern states - Alabama, Arkansas,
Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and
Tennessee - according to federal estimates. On Tuesday, a congressional
roundtable with stakeholders will focus on how to boost AIDS awareness and
access to care in the region.
The South has very few HIV
specialists compared with traditional HIV epicenters, said Bruce Packett,
deputy executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. The nine
Southern states combined have just 243 HIV specialists, compared with New York
and California, which have 275 and 411 specialists, respectively, he noted.
Their distribution “just isn’t rationally representative of HIV incidences by
state,” he said.
“Make no mistake - HIV/AIDS is
devastating communities of color, women, and young gay and bisexual men in the
US, especially in the South,” said Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), whose House
roundtable co-sponsor is Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
“This disease is no longer a
metropolitan problem. In fact, infection rates in the rural South are among the
fastest-growing in the country,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who is
sponsoring the Senate session with Sen. Kay Hagan (D-N.C.).
Problems that drive higher incidence
rates in the South include poverty, racism, cultural conservatism and stigma
about HIV, drug use, and sexism, said Ronald Johnson, an AIDS United vice
president.
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!
