Georgia’s HIV infection rate dropped by a 6 percent annual rate from 2008 to 2014, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 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 in Washington, D.C., 10 percent per year; Maryland, about 8 percent; Pennsylvania, about 7 percent; Georgia, about 6 percent; New York and North Carolina, each about 5 percent, Illinois, about 4 percent and 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.