Latest stats offer ‘encouraging news’ in fight against HIV/AIDS
ATLANTA – Georgia’s HIV infection rate dropped by a 6 percent annual rate from 2008 to 2014, the CDC has reported.
The state Department of Health said Monday that the decline “is very encouraging news for Georgia as we work to eliminate HIV/AIDS in the state.”
Dr. Patrick O’Neal, director of health protection for Public Health, added, “It also reinforces what we’ve said all along that linking patients with treatment is essential to reducing HIV transmission in Georgia.”
Georgia, and Atlanta in particular, have had high infection rates. Atlanta has been ranked the No. 5 city in the nation for new HIV diagnoses, and Georgia the No. 2 state.
The CDC recently reported the number of annual HIV infections in the United States dropped 18 percent between 2008 and 2014 – from an estimated 45,700 to 37,600.
The most significant declines were:
– Washington, D.C., 10 percent per year;
– Maryland, about 8 percent per year;
– Pennsylvania, about 7 percent per year;
– Georgia, about 6 percent per year;
– New York and North Carolina, each about 5 percent per year;
– Illinois, about 4 percent per year;
– Texas, about 2 percent per year.
An HIV-positive person is 96 percent less likely to pass the virus to others while adhering to an appropriate treatment regimen, public health officials say.
Georgia Public Health said its Office of HIV/AIDS has worked to reduce the spread of infections by promptly identifying HIV-positive clients and linking them to medical care and support services.
The number of people living with HIV has steadily increased as a result of effective treatment. Since the development of antiretroviral therapy during the mid-1990s, deaths due to AIDS have dropped substantially, public health officials note.
“DPH’s Office of HIV/AIDS will continue to set aggressive goals to further reduce HIV incidence in our most vulnerable populations,” said William Lyons, director of the DPH Office of HIV/AIDS. “Initiatives to meet these goals include implementing the South’s first statewide strategy addressing HIV among gay and bisexual men” and expanding initiatives aimed at promoting improved linkage, engagement and retention in care, he said.