According to a recent report, Baton Rouge ranks No. 1 for AIDS rates in major metropolitan areas in the country for the second year in a row.
The latest statistics, released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows Baton Rouge had 29.4 AIDS cases per 100,000 people in 2011. These numbers are down from 33.7 per 100,000 in 2010, but are still the highest in the nation.
The figures represent only AIDS cases and not HIV. The same studies showed Baton Rouge has 41.6 cases of HIV per 100,000 people, ranking third in the country.
Health Promotion Coordinator at the Student Health Center Seirra Fowler said there may be more people with HIV than the study shows, saying one in five people with HIV do not know they are infected.
Fowler said the high rates are most likely due to lack of education, resources and knowledge of safe-sex practices in the Baton Rouge community, a sentiment shared by founder and CEO of the Baton Rouge AIDS Society A.J. Johnson.
“We as a community are not doing a great enough job,” he said.
Johnson said he has seen a lack of involvement in the community to bring awareness to AIDS in Baton Rouge.
He said he hopes to see people talking about AIDS more as well as increased testing within the community.
Fowler said it is important to be tested because years may pass without any symptoms of HIV, and when they do appear, it may have already progressed to AIDS.
Executive Director for Metro Health Shirley Lolis said HIV testing is important not only to identify a person’s status as positive or negative, but to bring attention to risky behaviors.
Lolis said when people are tested, they are also encouraged to look at their behaviors and develop a plan to reduce any that may put them at risk.
Metro Health provides free testing to the community and LSU students.
Lolis said one of the goals of Metro Health is to “try to meet people where they are and identify their needs.”
One way they accomplish this goal is by providing free rapid testing in the Student Union throughout the semester. The testing is a non-invasive oral swab with results provided in 20 minutes — virtually instantaneous when compared with a blood sample, which takes days to produce results.
Lolis said there has been more testing in recent years and believes this may have led to the increased rate shown in the statistics.
She said she would like to like to see a decrease in cases when next year’s reports are released, but said she does not want this decrease to mean people are not getting tested but rather show a realistic representation of AIDS decline.
“Young people feel invincible,” she said, but stressed only one act of unprotected sex or one infected needle can lead to the disease.
“HIV is 100 percent preventable,” she said. “People have to have a plan.”
“HIV is 100 percent preventable.”
