Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
Most with HIV skip treatment
8:57 PM, Jan. 28, 2012
More than two-thirds of all Mississippians testing positive for HIV are failing to get medical treatment, according to the latest estimates by the state Department of Health.
In doing so, they not only shorten their lives but increase the risk of spreading the virus.
State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier said by getting into treatment, those with HIV not only extend and improve their lives, they reduce the likelihood of passing on the disease because the medicine reduces the viral loads in the body.
Stigma, cost and lack of access to medical care are among reasons doctors say many HIV patients avoid treatment.
"Some people in the Delta drive here to Jackson because they don't want the stigma," said Valencia Robinson, executive director for Mississippi in Action and an advocate for those living with HIV.
Statewide, more than 9,500 Mississippians are known to have HIV - nearly a fourth of them in Hinds County.
Dr. Leandro Mena, associate professor of medicine for the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said many "don't want others to know they're HIV infected."
In addition, those with HIV sometimes live in denial, he said. "People feel relatively well for many years."
More...
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120129/NEWS01/201290337/1001/RSS01
8:57 PM, Jan. 28, 2012
More than two-thirds of all Mississippians testing positive for HIV are failing to get medical treatment, according to the latest estimates by the state Department of Health.
In doing so, they not only shorten their lives but increase the risk of spreading the virus.
State Health Officer Dr. Mary Currier said by getting into treatment, those with HIV not only extend and improve their lives, they reduce the likelihood of passing on the disease because the medicine reduces the viral loads in the body.
Stigma, cost and lack of access to medical care are among reasons doctors say many HIV patients avoid treatment.
"Some people in the Delta drive here to Jackson because they don't want the stigma," said Valencia Robinson, executive director for Mississippi in Action and an advocate for those living with HIV.
Statewide, more than 9,500 Mississippians are known to have HIV - nearly a fourth of them in Hinds County.
Dr. Leandro Mena, associate professor of medicine for the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, said many "don't want others to know they're HIV infected."
In addition, those with HIV sometimes live in denial, he said. "People feel relatively well for many years."
More...
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20120129/NEWS01/201290337/1001/RSS01