U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention • U.S. News

Louisiana: Uptick in HIV Cases Stirs Fight to Stop It

June 27, 2008

Free HIV testing will be available at several New Orleans locations today as part of National HIV Testing Day.

While the number of new HIV cases in Orleans Parish dropped from 351 in 2004 to 254 last year, the rate increased from 77 to 106 cases per 100,000 people.

Tamachia Davenport of Camp ACE (Alert Community Empowerment), an HIV prevention and outreach center, said her agency has seen a great increase in the number of new HIV/AIDS cases following Hurricane Katrina. "Some were living with it for a while," she said. "After Katrina, some people engaged in some high-risk behavior for whatever reason."

According to statistics from the Louisiana Office of Public Health, the number of registered HIV/AIDS patients in the New Orleans area dropped from 7,068 before the hurricane to 5,500 at present. Of HIV/AIDS patients in the metro area, 48.9 percent have been out of medical care for the past 12 months, state data show.

While Katrina forced the closure of many testing outlets, testing rates in New Orleans rebounded as of last year, said Beth Scalco, HIV/AIDS program administrative director for the state Office of Public Health. CDC recently awarded the state more than $2.2 million for HIV testing, and some of that money will flow to New Orleans, she said.

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Adapted from:
Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
06.27.2008; Jennifer Evans

This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is a part of the publication CDC HIV/Hepatitis/STD/TB Prevention News Update.

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