Atlanta the No. 1 city for new HIV/AIDS cases (2015, health insurance)

[LynnHarris]

"The city of Atlanta, despite its national and international ranking as a progressive city that embraces diversity, has experienced some serious growing pains when it comes to such issues as crime and, most particularly, sexually transmitted diseases.

According to a recent report, the Capital of the New South is ranked No. 1 among U.S. cities when it comes to the rate of new diagnoses of HIV. Moreover, according to WABE, by the time patients are diagnosed in Atlanta, almost one third have advanced to clinical AIDS, which greatly lessons the chances of survival from the disease.

Since starting a routine testing program in 2013, the nationally-renowned medical center, Grady Hospital, has diagnosed an average of two or three patients with HIV every single day.

“This is something that keeps me awake at night in Atlanta,” Dr. Abigail Hankin-Wei said, according to WABE..."

Full Story: Atlanta the No. 1 city for new HIV/AIDS cases | Atlanta Daily World

[Mutiny77]

Unfortunately this isn't surprising in a city with as large a gay Black population in the South as Atlanta, in a state that doesn't prioritize public health and healthcare funding and initiatives as it should.

[mrdkb]

Trashy city

[joey86]

Originally Posted by mrdkb

Trashy city

Do not feed.

[Infinite_heights77]

I hear they call Atlanta, "The Black San Fransisco." Why does Atlanta have a large gay Black population?

Originally Posted by Mutiny77

Unfortunately this isn't surprising in a city with as large a gay Black population in the South as Atlanta, in a state that doesn't prioritize public health and healthcare funding and initiatives as it should.

[LoveMysterious]

Terrible news

[midgeorgiaman]

Not surprising. Atlanta is the destination for many young gay people across the south...a region that generally does not embrace comprehensive sex education and relies on an abstinence only stance of preventing STIs. (Impractical in my opinion...but I digress). Additionally, Atlanta is the hot destination for young gay black men who are much more likely to be HIV positive due to various reasons better discussed in another topic. This combined with the higher incidence of high risk sexual activity within poor black neighborhoods has increased the HIV rate among black women in the area as well.

Much of this could be reduced by proper sex education in our region, but the politics of Georgia will not allow this to happen on a large scale basis. It is truly a shame that a disease that is easily prevented continues to be a major issue because too many residents of the Bible Belt continue to think that if we just don't talk about it that it will go away.

[Mutiny77]

Another point worth mentioning here is that this study was done at Grady, which is a "safety net" public hospital where poor people and those without health insurance go for emergencies, so that somewhat skews the results here.

[Fubarbundy]

Half Of Atlanta's Newly Diagnosed HIV Patients Have AIDS, Grady Testing Finds | WABE 90.1 FM

We're #5, even so, not good.

[residinghere2007]

The majority of new HIV/AIDs cases are black females, not gay black males.

I also agree that a large focus on safe sex practices is very much needed in metro Atlanta for the youth in particular and at colleges/universities but unfortunately many people are too hesitant in speaking about sex to make much of a difference in this area. The state also will not increase funding for testing in other places besides an emergency room to reach a more broad base of the population. People go to the emergency room when they are sick. If they don't feel sick until they have full blown AIDS then that delays diagnosis. All doctors should ask about HIV testing at yearly appointments IMO or anytime you come in for a sick appointment.

I read this article the other day and oddly enough thought that if/when someone posted it here that they would blame black gay men versus any other demographic when the article(s) I read did not mention that gay black men were to blame in Atlanta. Even though there are a lot of gay black men in Atlanta, they are not the single culprit to the increase in HIV/AIDS in the region. Heterosexuals are.