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MONTGOMERY, Alaska (AP) – As the federal government prepares to launch an ambitious initiative to end the HIV epidemic, the director of the Centers for Disease Control on Friday applauded the commitment of the government. An Alabama HIV Clinic to provide health services to rural communities.
The director, Robert Redfield, met with state public health officials and visited the Montgomery's advocacy and medical awareness clinic to begin laying the groundwork for one more federal campaign. ten years. HIV is the virus that causes AIDS.
Alabama is one of seven states that the federal government plans to add additional expertise, resources and technology to its relatively high rate of new HIV infections among rural residents.
<p clbad = "web-atom canvas-text Mb (1.0em) Mb (0) – sm Mt (0.8em) – sm" type = "text" content = "The initiative – first announced by President Trump in his State of the Union address in February, he aims to reduce new HIV infections by 75% in five years and at least 90% in 10 years. "data-reactid =" 48 "> The initiative, announced for the first time by President Trump in his State of the Union Address in February – aims to reduce new HIV infections 75% in five years and at least 90% in 10 years.
The South accounted for more than half of the nearly 40,000 new HIV diagnoses in 2017, with 23% of new diagnoses occurring in suburban and rural areas, a disproportionate distribution compared to the rest of the United States, according to data from the United States. CDC.
Redfield said targeting the epidemic in rural areas is particularly difficult because of both limited access to health services and the growing stigma badociated with homobaduality and HIV / AIDS as a disease.
"The real enemy of public health is stigma," Redfield said after a meeting with state legislators, public health officials and doctors. "In rural America, stigma is an even bigger problem."
Redfield said the federal initiative, which has not yet received funding, will focus on improving diagnoses, treating patients, implementing prevention strategies, collaborating with health departments to identify hot spots and help local communities build a workforce that can mobilize people living with HIV.
Scott Harris, Alabama's public health officer, said the initiative would build on conversations with local health care providers to help design the kind of unique programs that will be most effective. in this country.
"We have the opportunity to use people at the local level to help us understand exactly what is going on in these communities," Harris said.
Redfield, who began his research on the virus more than 30 years ago, saw how advocacy and outreach of medical organizations targeted rural communities during a tour of the facility. , which included a short presentation of the clinic's telemedicine program, a video chat between a doctor and a patient described by some staff members as the "crown jewel" of the clinic.
On a flat-screen TV located in front of a small room in the Montgomery Clinic, Redfield greeted a nurse located in one of the organization's ten satellite clinics. He then put on a Bluetooth headset that allows doctors to remotely hear the heart, lungs or entrails of a patient via a digital stethoscope located tens of kilometers away.
Thomas Stephens, a spokesman for the clinic, said he hoped the visit would give Redfield a "personal" and "human" perspective on the kind of programs on the ground aimed at curbing HIV / AIDS in the country. the rural areas of Alabama.
"We want to remove viral loads, we do not want to suppress self-esteem," Jamil Dawson, director of MAO's support services, told Redfield during his tour.
"I think I'm going to steal this," said Redfield.
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