Baton Rouge’s HIV/AIDS diagnoses rate is the highest among cities in the United States.
Poor health, poverty and prison prevalence could be factors in Baton Rouge’s shift from number two to number one and Louisiana’s place at the top of the list.
According to the Baton Rouge AIDS Society (BRASS), Baton Rouge is currently number one in the country with the highest rate of AIDS cases.
Baton Rouge AIDS Society founder and CEO, Rev. A.J. Johnson said,” BRASS offers volunteer opportunities to help mobilize the community around the fight against HIV/AIDS and other STDs.”
Louisiana is currently number four among states with the highest rate of new AIDS cases in the country.
In the U.S. every nine and a half minutes, someone gets infected with HIV and every 35 minutes a woman is tested positive in the United States,” said Johnson.
Johnson said some of the reasons Baton Rouge is number one is because of poverty, prisons, people, and poor health are major factors.
“Baton Rouge moved from number two to number one. That is not an alarming change, especially when Louisiana is the number two worst health state in the country,” said Johnson.
According to www.avert.org, today over 230,000 African Americans have died of AIDS with nearly 40 percent of total deaths.
It also stated that among the one million people living with HIV in the United States, almost half are black.
As a racial group, African Americans represent just 13 percent of the U.S. population.
The estimated lifetime risk of becoming infected with HIV is 1 in 16 for black males, and 1 in 30 for black females, which is a far higher risk than for white males (1 in 104) and white females (1 in 588).
According to the National HIV/AIDS Strategy, African Americans comprise the greatest proportion of HIV/AIDS cases, including among women, heterosexual men, injection drug users, and infants.”
Education on the issue is cited for some of the cases and higher rates.
Jason Tate, a junior mass communication major from Houston said, “I always thought that you could only get HIV when you had sex.”
HIV is found and can be contracted from specific human body fluids like blood, semen, breast milk, vaginal and rectal fluids.
According to Shirley Wade, director/nurse practitioner of the SU Student Health Center, with AIDS being the final stage of HIV, it is most important that people get tested due to the fact that early detection can save more lives.
Johnson said that even before getting tested, many people have many misconceptions about HIV/AIDS and it’s ability to be contracted by anyone regardless of race, gender, class and sexual orientation.
”It won’t happen to me, I’m careful. If you don’t see your partner’s HIV status, you are placing yourself at risk,” said Johnson.
Wade said students have to realize that they are either going to be abstinent, be faithful or use a condom. Even if they’re in a monogomous relationship they should use a condom.”
