Louisiana: Baton Rouge Leads U.S. in AIDS Cases

[tednlou2]

From U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

October 25, 2012

The latest figures show the Baton Rouge metropolitan area as first and the New Orleans metropolitan area as fifth in the rate of AIDS cases in the United States. The Louisiana Commission on HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C, which was formed to advise the governor on the viruses, met October 24, for the first time in more than two years. The commission failed to muster a quorum, but did review the grim statistics and discuss the commission's future, specifically its role.

The statistics showed that new diagnoses of the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, are increasing in Louisiana. Also, the number of people infected is spreading from the metropolitan areas to other parts of the state. Other statistics presented: 18,502 people in Louisiana have AIDS or HIV as of June 30. Of those, 54 percent have AIDS. The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in Louisiana increased by 12 percent from 2010 to 2011. Seventy-one percent of the newly diagnosed HIV patients were men. Seventy-four percent were black.

Some progress was made in between meetings. Louisiana succeeded in whittling down its wait list for people waiting to receive medications through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), due to the infusion of federal funding and the elimination of people who were not eligible. Also, the Division of Human Development and Services for Baton Rouge (DHDS) received a 6 percent increase in funding for the 2012 fiscal year, with awards increasing to $4.3 million. Raman Singh, chairman of the commission, urged the group to meet more regularly to stop the serious problem of the large numbers of HIV/AIDs cases in Louisiana.

http://www.thebody.com/content/69536/louisiana-baton-rouge-leads-us-in-aids-cases.html

[wolfter]

Wow, the commission decided they should meet more often than every 2 years? 

Leaves me speechless at the lack of concern for curbing this virus.

[survivor703]

I'm from baton rouge... now I live in washington, DC. From one capital to the other, literally. 

[leatherman]

Leaves me speechless at the lack of concern for curbing this virus.

scary stuff. no wonder it's so bad there in LA if no official concern is there. After 2 yrs and they couldn't even muster a quorum.

54% AIDS?!?! OUCH! and how sad. That represents a lot of un- and under- treated people.

[Ann]

54% AIDS?!?! OUCH! and how sad. That represents a lot of un- and under- treated people.

Not to mention a lot of people being diagnosed late, in hospital fighting for their lives with PCP or similar. It sucks.

[buginme2]

There is so much wrong with this. 

Don't they have public health there?  54% of those with HIV have AIDS?  Thats a government failure. 

Also, the article states they reduced ADAP waiting list by eliminating those who didnt qualify.  What does that mean exactly?  How did they not qualify?  Is it because they havent reached an AIDS diagnosos yet?  Do these people have access to meds???

Disturbing

[leatherman]

Do these people have access to meds???

Ah! and there's the great mystery to the ADAP waiting lists that have been all over the country for numerous years. Many of those on the waiting list often, thankfully, do have access via the charity of an ASO or other organizations. What they don't have is quick access or guaranteed access. The people on the waiting list often have to struggle month-to-month jumping through hoops making sure that someone is funding their meds. Not to mention the extreme worry and stress that they incur during those months waiting for more government funding to come through (The President's extra funding in April didn't all come through the pipeline until Sept,) or for someone to become disabled and move onto Medicaid, or sadly enough for someone else to die to free up a spot in ADAP.

[mecch]

Speaking of, Hellraiser has been pretty quiet lately....

You there and ok?

[Miss Philicia]

I'm not sure I get this -- they say ~18,502 in the entire state. What's the amount in Baton Rouge (a city)? We have 28,973 in Philadelphia (2010 figures). Just to emphasis that it's the rate of the increase, not raw numbers. It's more like such places are catching up to what's been present in other parts of the US over several decades, though not to minimize the crisis.

A lot of people here present with AIDS upon diagnosis and it's not for lack of public health services, of which there are many and well funded. In fact, I can even summon up a map by zip code showing the worst areas, and it's minority groups that are resistant to regular testing.

[jkinatl2]

I'm not sure I get this -- they say ~18,502 in the entire state. What's the amount in Baton Rouge (a city)? We have 28,973 in Philadelphia (2010 figures). Just to emphasis that it's the rate of the increase, not raw numbers. It's more like such places are catching up to what's been present in other parts of the US over several decades, though not to minimize the crisis.

A lot of people here present with AIDS upon diagnosis and it's not for lack of public health services, of which there are many and well funded. In fact, I can even summon up a map by zip code showing the worst areas, and it's minority groups that are resistant to regular testing.

Which would beg the question of institutionalized racism, the church's hold over popular opinion and behavior (especially and ironically the traditional black churches) as well as sanctioned homophobia. The issue of HIV demographics insists on the inclusion of these as well as other hot-button issues. Many people, both in the public eye and out, are very reluctant to address these issues at depth, obviously to the detriment of prevention, testing and treatment.

[leatherman]

It's more like such places are catching up to what's been present in other parts of the US over several decades, though not to minimize the crisis.

Exactly.

That is the issue here in the more rural Southern states. Because of smaller populations which are spread out, a lack of concern, a lack of education, widespread poverty, what has been a slower rate of infection that is now increasing dramatically - and all magnified by stigma (racial, sexual and religious) - most of the Southern states are probably 15-20 yrs behind areas like NYC or SanFran in the curve of how the epidemic is affecting these states.

Edited to add this article that AIDS Healthcare Foundation just tweeted about last night

"This disease is no longer a metropolitan problem," says Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., a host of the roundtable. "In fact, infection rates in the rural South are among the fastest-growing in the country."
There are much higher concentrations of HIV specialists in traditional "epicenters" of the HIV epidemic — 411 in California; 275 in New York state — compared with 243 in the nine Southeast states, says Bruce Packett, deputy executive director of the American Academy of HIV Medicine. This concentration of expert care "just isn't rationally representative of HIV incidences by state," he says.

http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-15/aids-diagnoses-south/55655150/1

[Hellraiser]

Just saw this post for the first time. I was actually diagnosed in Baton Rouge. Philly is right that it I percentage of new infections that is so scary for Baton Rouge. I would imagine Baton Rouge is much smaller than Philadelphia though. I heard a figure once that 1 in 5 students was HIV+ at southern university. Baton Rouge and New Orleans are always in the top 5 for new infections though. There is absolutely no education down here because no one wants to talk about it. I mentioned once that in Mississippi we didn't talk about it and Philly said there was no way. There is a way when the community has decided that sex education is a bad idea they do their best to avoid the topic at all costs.

[thunter34]

Which would beg the question of institutionalized racism, the church's hold over popular opinion and behavior (especially and ironically the traditional black churches) as well as sanctioned homophobia. The issue of HIV demographics insists on the inclusion of these as well as other hot-button issues. Many people, both in the public eye and out, are very reluctant to address these issues at depth, obviously to the detriment of prevention, testing and treatment.

^This.  Every word of it.  I was reading through this thread before I got to this post, and the same soup of thoughts were stirring in my head.  Every high horse, "morality" minded approach to this disease ends up producing the opposite:  immoral response.  And by that I mean all of it from confidential vs. anonymous testing, NOT establishing routine testing for EVERYONE (to the point of being able to sue your doctor for testing you), the criminalization laws...it goes on and on. 

[Perfect_Storm]

This is so very unfortunate.