HIV/AIDS Rate in D.C. Hits 3%

[bijou]

At least 3 percent of District residents have HIV or AIDS, a total that far surpasses the 1 percent threshold that constitutes a "generalized and severe" epidemic, according to a report scheduled to be released by health officials tomorrow.

That translates into 2,984 residents per every 100,000 over the age of 12 -- or 15,120 -- according to the 2008 epidemiology report by the District's HIV/AIDS office.

"Our rates are higher than West Africa," said Shannon L. Hader, director of the District's HIV/AIDS Administration, who once led the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's work in Zimbabwe. "They're on par with Uganda and some parts of Kenya."

"We have every mode of transmission" -- men having sex with men, heterosexual and injected drug use -- "going up, all on the rise, and we have to deal with them," Hader said.

... 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/14/AR2009031402176_pf.html

[Lord Undies]

West Africa = Baja D.C. ?

After 20+ years of "education" my compassion for US AIDS sufferers has worn thin. 

[Flame]

West Africa = Baja D.C. ?

After 20+ years of "education" my compassion for US AIDS sufferers has worn thin. 

exactly....kinda people who start smoking now and are surprised when they get lung cancer.

[Celtic Rose]

West Africa = Baja D.C. ?

After 20+ years of "education" my compassion for US AIDS sufferers has worn thin. 

Agreed.  I have great compassion for those who are exposed to AIDS through no fault of their own, such as children, rape victims, and women whose husbands have affairs, but for the vast majority of AIDS sufferers in the US, they were exposed to AIDS through their own choices.  Condoms are cheap, and abstinence is cheaper, and if they choose to participate in risky behavior, they have nobody to blame but themselves. 

[Bluesuiter-Retired]

The only ones I feel ANY compassion for are those who contracted the disease through NO FAULT of their own.

[Jim]

am I the only one shocked its ONLY 3% ?

[Lacarnut]

I am surprised these DC officials are not blaming it on Bush. They need to have another gay parade so that they can show their wares. 

[9outof10]

Has anyone told these people that if they refrain from using drugs and do not have gay man sex that the chances of contracting AIDS drops to an almost a minuscule amount? Education is the key!!!!!!




Alright. Even I had a hard time saying that with a straight face.

No sympathy here except for the truly innocent.

And quit using my tax money on cures and treatments.

[Vagabond]

am I the only one shocked its ONLY 3% ?

If what I've heard from a Maryland health department nurse and seperately form a EMT is true, don't believe it for a second.  They may have 3% full blown AIDS cases, but the incidence of HIV infection might be a whole order of magnitude greater among the black population in the region.  I am also told there are local areas where the medical staff know that the incidence of HIV infection is even higher. 

It paints a really grim picture, the state government won't be able to sustain the costs of the treatments across that large of a population.