As Friday's observance of World AIDS Day approaches, CNN released this weekend this interactive map showing the prevalence of AIDS diagnoses per 100,000 in U.S. counties (above), alongside similar data for HIV, stroke, heart disease, obesity and life expectancy. Shelby County and surrounding areas in West Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas show some of the highest rates for all -- except life expectancy, for which those areas rate among the lowest.With all the attention placed on fighting the spread of HIV and AIDS overseas, the HIV/AIDS crisis right here in the U.S. -- particularly the Southeast -- is being neglected, says Dr. Vincent Marconi of Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Center, one of the largest HIV/AIDS facilities in the country:
"A great amount of attention has been put overseas," said Marconi, who's also an associate professor at Emory University's School of Medicine. "Especially in these economically challenged times, we tend to be myopic in our efforts in our charitable giving. People say, 'I'm already giving towards the international HIV effort - I can't see two epidemics happening.' No one wants to believe that extreme poverty and neglect exist in such a rich and powerful nation as this one."But exist they do. The problems have been getting worse in recent years, as CNN points out, and the Bluff City is among areas of concern:
In the southeast, the epidemic is growing faster than in any other region in the country. African-Americans constitute 12% of the population in the United States but account for approximately 45% of those newly infected with HIV, according to the CDC. And some of the South's biggest cities topped the CDC's list of diagnosis rates in 2008: Miami. Atlanta. Memphis, Tennessee. Orlando. New Orleans. Charlotte, North Carolina.
Leave a comment