HIV Rate Increases in Florida as AIDS-Related Deaths Decline

The Herald has done a pretty good job of outlining the results of Man Up: The Crisis of HIV/AIDS Among Florida's Men, by the Florida Department of Health, but the numbers are pretty shocking and worth repeating. And yeah, if you haven't been tested lately, maybe you make an appointment.1 out...

By Kyle Munzenrieder

September 3, 2009

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The Herald has done a pretty good job of outlining the results of Man Up: The Crisis of HIV/AIDS Among Florida's Men, by the Florida Department of Health, but the numbers are pretty shocking and worth repeating. And yeah, if you haven't been tested lately, maybe you make an appointment.

1 out of every 123 adult men in Florida are HIV+.
90,000 Floridians are living with HIV/AIDS, and 72% of those are male.

In Miami-Dade the number are ever more grim:

1 in every 60 non-Hispanice white men.
1 in every 98 Hispanic men.
1 in every 29 African-American men.

Now for the good news, despite high levels of infection, for the first since 1999 the state has seen a decline in AIDS related deaths. That can be chalked up to the powerful new wave of HIV medication which keeps the virus at bay, decreases the rate of transmission, and increases life expectancy among patients. The number of people living with HIV is also inflated by the lower number of deaths.

There's also a decline in new infections amongst African-American men.

Obviously, HIV/AIDS is still a pressing concerns, and many advocates believe President Obama isn't doing enough.

[Herald: HIV-AIDS rate is increasing across Florida]

[Orlando Sentinel: First big decline in AIDS-related deaths in 8 years, state reports]

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