PDF: CDC report on HIV infection
A new HIV prevention program in Georgia aims to reduce the high rate of infection among gay and bisexual men - the only group in which infection rates are rising - and make inroads against an AIDS problem that is among the nation's worst.
In 2008, only five states had accumulated more AIDS cases than Georgia since the epidemic began in the 1980s, according to the state's health department.
The initiative, called Taking Control, is designed to foster a "statewide mobilization" focused on the high-risk, priority population, said Leisha McKinley-Beach, HIV unit manager with the Georgia Division of Public Health.
One in five gay men nationwide are HIV positive, and nearly half of them are unaware of it, according to a study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released this month.
In Atlanta, one of the metropolitan statistical areas in which the study was conducted, just 6 percent of gay or bisexual men were HIV positive, but a full 55 percent of them were unaware of it. The CDC study tested more than 8,000 self-identifying gay and bisexual men in 21 American cities in 2008.
The HIV/AIDS epidemic still is heavily concentrated in the gay population, with minorities disproportionately affected, statistics show.
ON THE WEBwww.gatakingcontrol.orgwww.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/surveillance/basic.htm
Over the course of the next year, Taking Control aims to increase access to HIV prevention services for gay and bisexual men; link those already infected to treatment, prevention and other support services; increase awareness using social marketing; and forge partnerships to mobilize the community on the issue, McKinley-Beach said.
"The individual who is at risk for HIV has to acknowledge their risk, be tested and know their HIV status," she said.
Those who test negative can be linked to a behavioral intervention program to keep them HIV-free, she said. Those who test positive should be connected with medical care within three months, she said.
"That's a new focus for us. If we can get them into care, we can also provide secondary education about the importance of protecting themselves so they don't transmit the virus to others," she said.
Gay and bisexual men account for 53 percent of new HIV infections, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. They are the only groups in which HIV infection rates are rising, according to the CDC.
In Georgia, 2,926 new HIV infections were reported in 2008. Nationally, Georgia ranked eighth-worst in 2007 for the total number of AIDS cases since the disease epidemic began more than 20 years ago, according to the state health department. The state's ranking had worsened to sixth by the end of 2008, surpassed only by New York, California, Florida, Texas and New Jersey.
Tennessee ranked 18th in 2008, according to the CDC.
In Tennessee, the state health department also is working to develop a strategy focused on reaching men who have sex with men, but it's still in development, spokeswoman Shelley Walker said.
The state has submitted a grant to the CDC that would add funding for Tennessee AIDS services organizations, including Chattanooga Cares, to reach gay and bisexual men, said Jerry Evans, assistant executive director for Chattanooga Cares.
States are taking some direction from the new national strategy to combat the AIDS and HIV epidemic, announced this summer by the White House Office of National AIDS Policy. The strategy calls for a focus on high-risk priority groups.