Listen Live
Fantastic Voyage Generic Graphics Updated Nov 2023
Black America Web Featured Video
CLOSE

A shocking report reveals half of Atlanta’s HIV patients were discovered to already have AIDS fully developed in their bodies due to a lack of medicine but mainly for waiting too long to get tested.

The HIV crisis has been a concern for Atlanta’s medical community since 2013, when Grady Hospital started offering routine testing through their FOCUS program. On average, two to three patients daily were found carrying the virus.

Atlanta is currently the 5th U.S. city with the most new cases of HIV and medical field experts are looking at a few reasons why the diseases have surged. A lot of the factors point towards socioeconomics and societal shaming. Atlanta doesn’t offer as much STD testing services as it should and Grady Hospital’s Emergency Department has been the only one to take the CDC’s recommendation that patients should be able to get STD/HIV testing wherever healthcare is provided (and get federal funding for their FOCUS program).

Outside of Grady, there are currently 50 other places that residents can go to get tested, but then poverty, transportation and fear of public shaming (if positive for the disease) have prevented many from getting tested. Some Atlanta residents waited as long as ten years before getting a STD check-up and AIDS approximately takes eight to ten years to fully form.

With upsetting news like this, healthcare advocates in the city are planning to start new initiatives and campaigns to get the government and its residents to believe in the local healthcare system. For the areas most populated with residents, healthcare clinics will need to be provided with more of the necessary tools and education for future testing and (hopefully) more negative results.

A Tribute to Folks We Lost to AIDS
0 photos

Studies Finds That Half Of Atlanta’s HIV Patients Already Developed AIDS  was originally published on hellobeautiful.com