AIDS tightens grip on South
By CHARLES SEABROOK
The AIDS epidemic is "drastically and quickly" increasing in the South, which already faces a dire shortage of resources to combat the disease, health officials said in a new report Thursday.
"In essence, we're declaring a state of emergency in the South," said Dr. Gene Copello, co-chairman of the Southern AIDS Coalition, made up of health officials in 14 states, including Georgia. "The AIDS epidemic is out of control in the South."
Georgia officials said the findings mirror the course of the epidemic in the state.
According to the report:
While the South represents a little more than one-third of the U.S. population, it accounts for 40 percent of people who have AIDS and 46 percent of new cases. Georgia, which has 11,193 people with the disease, ranks seventh in the nation for the number of cases.
Between 2000 and 2001, the estimated number of new AIDS cases in the South increased while other regions experienced declines or relatively stable levels.
Southern cities represent 18 of the top 25 U.S. metropolitan areas hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic. Atlanta is one of the 18.
Seven of the states with the 10 highest AIDS rates are located in the South. Georgia's AIDS rate of 20.8 cases per 100,000 population is sixth-highest.
The face of the disease, said the report, is becoming increasingly rural, female, heterosexual and African-American in the South. AIDS is appearing with alarming frequency in rural Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and Alabama.
Copello, who is also director of Florida AIDS Action in Tampa, said the coalition compiled the report in response to the region's rising crisis in AIDS and HIV infections, which cause the disease.
The group called for a "bold response" at the federal, state and local levels for funding and providing outreach and treatment to combat the surging epidemic.
"The resources are not available to meet the needs," Copello said. "Unless some crucial steps are taken, the epidemic will get worse. We plan to be very loud and forceful about this."
The South is more greatly plagued by AIDS and HIV infections because of racial and economic differences and a conservative cultural attitude that interferes with attempts to halt the disease, the report said.
More than half of the people with AIDS in the South are African-American, though only 20 percent of the region's population is Black. African-American men are less likely to acknowledge that they are in a high-risk group for AIDS and are less likely to volunteer for HIV testing, researchers say.
Southern rural areas also have poor health care access. "In some states, due to limited resources, persons with HIV must become considerably ill before obtaining access to necessary care," the report said.
Some states, such as Georgia and North Carolina, have waiting lists for residents to receive expensive drugs to stave off effects of the HIV virus. One official said other states, including Florida, were at risk of the same fate.
HIV/AIDS rates also are much higher in communities in which poverty is high and adequate housing is lacking, the report said. In addition, it said AIDS/HIV rates closely parallel the incidence of sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and gonorrhea.
The South, the report noted, has the highest rates for those maladies in the nation.