HIV/AIDS in Georgia – How we have failed and will continue to fail

This is a not something new. We have know for years that HIV/AIDS was becoming a real threat for rural, female, African-American and poor people.

This is not all the fault of the state (but plenty of blame does reside there). The CDC has never really EVER had a HIV prevention plan in place. When the [...]

National Minority AIDS Council Call to Action- New HIV rates

There website is here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Circe J. Gray Le Compte, Director of Communications
National Minority AIDS Council, 1931 13th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009
Telephone: (202) 234-5120 ext. 309; (202) 352-7240
E-mail: communications@nmac.org
“And all the centuries passed and they survived and became a kind of people that the world had never known. [...]

It took countless deaths, but Georgia finally gets a Mental Health Ombudsman

While on the face of it it is a good sign that Georgia is finally doing something to address this horrible issue, it is outrageous that it takes people dying, a federal investigation and a investigative piece from the AJC to make this happen.
Having an ombudsmen and advocates for the most helpless of our residents [...]

1000 Georgians died last year due to lack of health care

There are a couple of issues here.
Issue one- The Georgia Legislature should be ashamed of themselves for their actions on this issue. In the face of Georgians not having access to health care they pushed a bill that gives tax breaks which really will benefit insurance companies who offer worthless high deductible policies that do [...]

Lack of HIV coverage in the news

Found this to be a good example of how HIV/AIDS is not being covered in the news and how this lack of information leads to people coming to false perceptions about the disease.
Why So Little AIDs Coverage?
When I decided to take two j-students to study AIDS in South Africa we discovered that there is [...]

CDC struggles with trying to view HIV issues through the lenses of conservative politics

This is yet another example of how the leadership at CDC has been replaced and hamstrung by conservative political appointees who either deny the issues, ignore them or subvert information to keep from having to address the issue of gay men of color and HIV. It is almost like the view from the Reagan years [...]

Unnatural Causes – it not just your genes or lack of access

Started March 27 but they are repeating the first episode this coming Wednesday and GPB will air it every Thursday for 6 more weeks.  Website for the film is here.
Healthy behaviors, molecular research, and of course, universal health care are all important. But evidence suggests they [...]

National Latino Awarness Day – October 15th

One-fourth of HIV patients believe their doctors stigmatize them

While this is perceived stigma it is very troubling. Makes you wonder what the percentage would be here in rural south Georgia.

One-fourth of HIV patients believe their doctors stigmatize them
Physicians might want to be extra careful about how they treat HIV-infected patients —not just in the clinical sense but in the way they behave toward [...]

Georgia continues to fail to protect its most vulnerable citizens

This is just tragic and all of us in Georgia are implicated as we have not forced our leaders to address this long occurring problem.
We are ok with this kind of “justice” because the folks being mistreated, dehumanized and dying are minorities, poor, mentally ill, gay or other classifications of people we either never have [...]

Cutting Ryan White Programs

This is really about how the current administration has flat funded the HIV care and treatment program while not preventing more Americans from acquiring HIV. Flat funding a program really is a decrease of 2% to 5% as all cost to the program increase this much a year. Then you add 40,000 NEW HIV [...]

HIV testing in North East Georgia

 FYI. But remember that all health departments offer free HIV testing at any time.

Women target of free HIV/AIDS testing

By Ken Stanford
GAINESVILLE – Women account for a dramatic increase in newly-diagnosed AIDS cases – and, as a result, free screenings are planned in northeast Georgia later this month.
The Gainesville-based North Health District will offer the testing [...]

VOICES in the Rural Georgia Hispanic Community

From the Rome Georgia Paper:
 
Georgia officials work to increase HIV/AIDS awareness
By Karina Gonzalez Staff Writer
DALTON, Ga. — A new initiative is under way to increase awareness within the Hispanic community here regarding HIV/AIDS,HIV / AIDS, ways to prevent getting the disease and the ease with which testing may be done.
“VOICES is getting off the ground,” [...]