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Loading ...New map finds HIV rates are highest in the South
06.23.2009 2:33pm EDT
(Atlanta) A new Internet data map offers a first-of-its-kind, county-level look at HIV cases in the U.S. and finds the infection rates tend to be highest in the South.
The highest numbers of HIV cases are in population centers like New York and California. However, many of the areas with the highest rates of HIV – that is, the highest proportion of people with the AIDS-causing virus – are in the South, according to the data map, which has information for more than 90 percent of the nation’s counties and Washington, D.C.HIV infection rates are higher in African-American communities, and high minority populations in the South help explain the finding. While that’s not surprising, the high rates seen throughout states like Georgia and South Carolina were, said Gary Puckrein, president of the National Minority Quality Forum, the nonprofit research organization that put the map together.
Of 48 counties with the highest prevalence rates for HIV that had not yet progressed to AIDS, 25 were in Georgia, according to the map. Those were counties in which more than 0.7 percent of the population was infected with HIV.
Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Virginia were heavily represented on another map of counties, which showed the highest prevalence rates for cases that had progressed to AIDS. Both
The map depicts reported numbers of people living with HIV and AIDS in 2006. Puckrein said the data came from state health departments and was checked against information from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Different states report data in different ways, and there may be case duplication that could impact some of the findings, Puckrein said.
The CDC’s HIV and AIDS prevalence data is reported on a state level, not by county. CDC officials were cautious about the data map, saying they hadn’t seen all the organization’s information.
“But we have long been part of the effort to identify geographic differences in the HIV epidemic, and we do see the need for efforts like these to facilitate better understanding of these differences,” said CDC spokeswoman Elizabeth-Ann Chandler.
Those who point out the contribution of consevative thinking to the ’southern’ statistic are right.I remember the early years of the epidemic when religious conservatives fought vehemently and successfully against the use of any public funds for HIV research. The subsequent delay in acquiring effective medications denied thousands even a fighting chance at survival. ( So much for their claim of support for the sanctity of all human life.)
The real sad part of this story is that we as Americans dont seem to care or we have not invested enough in finding a cure for this fatal disease that has ravaged our people and our community this disease is a nation’s issue and until we come together and work on a cure and prevention then no one is safe !!
AIDs is not a gay disease. Just think of how sex with a woman can be directly injecting viruses into the bloodstream.
And what is so important is to out all the married men who are homophobes on one hand, and having sex with other men when no one is looking, so they hope.
All part of hypocrisy of the right wing.
All of this is part of the churches with their abstinence policies. All the idiots do is make sex the forbidden fruit.
And a great example is bible thumper Palin. I wonder if she will have her husband follow the bible, and stone to death her daughter. Hey, Ms. Tundra Trash – its in your bible.
It wouldn’t hurt to verify this in case the authors haven’t already, but I think HIV rates are greatest in the South because most infections occur there. It seems kind of odd that large numbers of people would move to Southern states after becoming HIV positive. If anything, I would expect movement toward the coasts, where there is greater tolerance, more awareness of health and HIV issues, and better medical care.
This is no surprise to me. If I expected to be sick often I’d go south rather than dealing with the northern winters. It’s often cheaper to live in the south. A better study would be to see where most HIV infections occur rather than where already infected people live.
Dieter – “LOL” at people with HIV is pretty pathetic….
Homophobic attitudes + abstinence-only education = a public health nightmare. Conservatives aren’t interested in forming policies that reflect the way the world actually works; they form policies that attempt to impose their fantasy worldview on an entire populace. In their little world gay people don’t exist and teenagers have no interest in having sex before marriage. Sorry: it doesn’t work that way! Deal with it so other people can live their lives safely.
Having moved to Alabama from California 4 years ago, I must say this does not surprise me. I am constantly amazed at the number of married men who “cheat” with other men. And they rationalize it as not cheating because it is not with a woman. And, at the same time, I am still in shock at the number of men who are willing to have sex bareback. Only when people can live their lives without having to “conform” to the norm down here, will these numbers change. When men don’t get married just because it’s the expected thing, and can live open, SAFE, gay lives then we will see change truly come.
Imagine my surprise that the states who believe the most in homophobic backwoods thinking are the ones most affeceted…lol…
When information on HIV/AIDS is “sanitized” in order not to offend prudes and where information is not easily available to young people, there will be higher rates of infection. People need to get complete information on HIV/AIDS prevention and safe sex practices. If this information offends prudes, let them be offended.