For years there has been a focus on two cities in Florida where the cases of HIV AIDS have been detected to a greater extent. According to information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state has an average of 35 cases per 100,000 people, which is almost double or triple that of other large metropolitan areas. in the country like New York or Los Angeles.
According to a study conducted by the CDC, the metropolitan area of Miami, which includes Ford Lauderdale and West Palm Beach leads the classification of new diagnoses of HIV compared to other similar areas of the country. And they also emphasize that 45 percent of new diagnoses correspond to Hispanic people. One of the reasons for the situation, they point out, is that there is a false perception that disease It is under control and there are treatments.
The area of Ocean Drive where the increase in HIV infections It has been worrying. According to AIDSvu, the annual rate of new infections in that part of Florida was more than four times higher than the national average in 2021. But it is not the only one, also the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and palm beach are in the top 5 percent of counties in USA with high infection rate.
Likewise, specialists emphasize that up to 20 percent of people living with virus They do not know it, which is why government strategies have been carried out in the area to facilitate testing and provide easier access to treatment and protection methods. For example, some stores conduct free testing and only need to make a computer record available confidentially, information that is only shared with the health department.
There are also options such as the Pineapple Health Care clinic that provides free assistance to help people who do not have access to health insurance and brings them treatment that serves to prevent HIV. It should be said that their main focus is the Hispanic community and, therefore, they serve both English and Spanish.
One more option is the AHF Organization, which has seven health centers and clinics where they offer medical services, case management, mental help, pharmacy and HIV testing free or accessible to vulnerable or low-income people who do not have health insurance
Clarifications regarding HIV and AIDS
Due to all the doubts that still exist regarding the HIV and the AIDS, The World Health Organization makes the following clarifications:
- AIDS is not the same as HIV. AIDS is the name of the disease, the acronym HIV means Human Immunodeficiency Virus and refers to the virus that causes it.
- You can live with the virus and never develop AIDS, which appears in the most advanced stages of the infection.
- HIV can be transmitted through sexual relations, both vaginal, anal and oral, with a person who has the virus. Also due to the transfusion of contaminated blood and sharing needles, syringes, surgical materials or other sharp objects.
- There is no cure for HIV but there is a treatment called antiretroviral that can make the virus undetectable and therefore prevent infection.
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