Southern U.S. Has Highest AIDS Mortality Rate

HIV

» by Jordan C. Alston November 17, 2009, 20:13pm

According to a Center for Disease Control and Prevention study, the Southern half of the United States has the highest AIDS related death rate, surpassing any other section of the United States.

Approximately 46% of new AIDS cases in the year 2007 were from the South, beating the average set by the Northeast (25%) and West (17%) by significant margins.

Though this fact is alarming, it adds a face to the crippling realities of inequality within our government by spotlighting how funding is appropriated.

Southern states currently rank last on the federal funding list for many social projects and services, including AIDS care and prevention, with only $6,565 a year spent on those infected with HIV.

States like Kentucky and Mississippi are being hit the hardest due to the lack of funds, with the latter only having eight public clinics to service the 9,000 HIV patients residing within the state.

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