Improving Life for Arizonans With HIV/AIDS

Arizona's Maricopa County region is receiving more federal Ryan White CARE Act funds this year due to its increasing HIV/AIDS caseload. Maricopa and Pinal counties will receive $6.8 million in Ryan White money to provide under- and uninsured people with HIV/AIDS with medical, dental, psychological, and minority outreach services. That is 5 percent more than last year.

More than 12,000 people in Arizona have HIV/AIDS, state officials estimate, and most live in the Valley. Each year, another 800 new infections are reported to the state. There are an estimated 4,000 people who have HIV but do not know it.

"We have a significant percentage of these people out of care," said Cheri Tomlinson, grants manager for Maricopa Integrated Health System. "They're infected, and we need to get them in care. It's an alarming trend… and we struggle to meet the increasing demand."

African Americans account for 3 percent of the state's population but 12 percent of its HIV/AIDS cases. There are a disproportionate 45 new HIV reports per 100,000 African-American residents annually, compared to 10-15 cases per 100,000 population for other races/ethnicities. And men who have sex with men comprised 73 percent of new HIV/AIDS last year, up from a low of 60 percent in 1995, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

About $70,000 in federal money will be spent on prevention efforts targeting minorities.

Back to other news for September 2007