HIV in US high down south
Recent estimates by the Center for Disease Control in the US has found nearly half of all new diagnoses of HIV/AIDS occur in nine southern states.
The states of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee also make the region which has the highest level in the country of people living with and dying from AIDS.
AIDS United vice president of policy and advocacy, Ronald Johnson, urged southern politicians to direct more research and attention to the issue.
"When it comes to living with HIV/AIDS, where you live should not affect how well you live," he said.
"Making sure that people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS, especially those in the overburdened U.S. South, have access to crucial HIV prevention, care and treatment services should not be a partisan issue.
“The Members of Congress who join us today recognize this, and we ask for their help to increase awareness and spearhead research that will advance this important work."
Currently in the United States only 19 per cent of Americans living with HIV/AIDS are receiving the adequate care required to sustain and improve their lives.
The American Academy of HIV Medicine associates one of the causes of this in the south with the uneven distribution in the region of the states’ 240 HIV specialists.
- Tags: AIDS/HIV, Blaze, Center for Disease Control, HIV, MCV, Queensland Pride, Ronald Johnson, SX, USA
About the Author
Alex Dunkin
"Tall, dark and handsome", and a borderline coffee addict. Grew up in country South Australia prior to travelling and living overseas and then returning to the state to undertake university degrees in journalism and international studies with a focus on the Italian language. Constantly writing new material, both journalistic and creative, with a couple of recent awards under his belt including the youth prize in the New Mardi Gras literature prize.
Comments (1)
The "uneven distribution" of Americans living with HIV/AIDS is likely due to religious fanaticism. Bible-bashing southern states view infection and lack of treatment as a way of eliminating "undesirables", such as queer people, intravenous drug users and prison inmates.