MEMPHIS, TN – Roughly 6,000 people in Shelby County are living with HIV/AIDS, according to the Memphis and Shelby County Health Department, and there are fears that number will keep growing. The Health Department and other groups marked World Aids Day on Tuesday by holding ceremonies to remember those who are living with the virus, and those who have lost their lives.
“The scope of the problem in Memphis and Shelby County is significant, in 2008 we identified close to 400 new cases of HIV/AIDS in this community,” explained the Health Department’s director, Yvonne Madlock.
"We have been designated by the federal government as one of the areas with the fastest growing population of HIV/AIDS,” pointed out Kim Daugherty, executive director of Friends For Life, an advocacy group for people affected by HIV/AIDS.
The Health Department is trying to keep pace with that growth by spreading its own message just as quickly, especially to young people.
“We're encouraging everybody to know their HIV status, to link themselves into care, to do what they can do to limit the spread to others and to limit the spread of re-infection themselves by practicing safe sex,” explained the department’s director, Yvonne Madlock.
She believes a lack of awareness along with unprotected sex has fueled the growth of HIV/AIDS in Shelby County.
“In some communities it is high rates of intravenous drug use,” Madlock said. “We know that’s probably not what's driving it here in Shelby County. What’s probably driving it is a significant amount of unprotected sex that occurs between partners. We’re encouraging everybody to know their HIV status, to link themselves into care, to do what they can do to limit the spread to others and to limit the spread of re-infection themselves by practicing safe sex. Abstinence obviously is the best thing, and if not, to have protected sex.”
And the epidemic could worsen. The State Department of Health now has a waiting list for a program that helps people cover the cost of HIV/AIDS drugs. Statewide, 129 people are on the list.
“A lot of people can’t afford these medications because those medications are very, very expensive,” explained Cedric Robinson, who manages the STD/HIV/AIDS office of the Health Department. “Also, when you’re dealing with unemployment issues in this country, a lot of people don’t have employment, and that means they don’t have health care so they can’t get the proper treatment.”
Statewide, 20,000 people are living with HIV/AIDS.
