New efforts made to end HIV/AIDS epidemic

A new push to end the HIV epidemic — with big money behind it — is underway and South Florida has a lot at stake.

The Miami-Dade/Broward/ Palm Beach area has the highest HIV rate of new diagnosis per capita of any metropolitan area in the country, based on numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The area also has more than 52,300 people already living with the disease.

On Thursday, multiple organizations announced they will work together to put money, resources and advocacy behind eliminating the disease in the South, a hard-hit region of the country. The 10-year, $100 million effort kicked off in 2017 and now includes the first Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day on Aug. 20.

The Southern HIV/AIDS Coalition, the leading sponsor, said the new action plan will focus on erasing HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and advocating for crucial resources and solutions to end the HIV crisis in the South. Organizations across the southern United States are able to apply for a share of the $100 million offered by Gilead Science, the maker of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication.

While the South makes up 38% of the U.S. population, about 45% of people who are HIV-positive live in the South.

“We have an HIV/AIDS crisis in the South,” said Dafina Ward, interim executive director at the Southern HIV/AIDS Coalition. “This is an opportunity to rewrite the narrative in the South and join together to come up with solutions.”

Patrick Sullivan, principal researcher with AIDSVu, an interactive online mapping platform that visualizes the impact of the HIV epidemic down to ZIP code, said a national overview shows that despite advances in HIV prevention and care, Southern states — including Florida — have the greatest burden of new cases.

The map, he said, draws attention to the counties and cities where new transmissions are highest.

Sullivan said in South Florida the rate of diagnosis is 35.3 new cases per 100,000 people. The map will guide resources to improve access to healthcare and steer HIV prevention into the neighborhoods where they are most needed, he said.

Shanell McGoy of Gilead Sciences said there is a real threat that some federal funding for HIV prevention could be eliminated, however, her organization already had stepped up to meet the need. “Something needed to be done with urgency to meet the challenges of the epidemic in the South," she said.

Over the next 10 years, Gilead will give out a total $100 million to creative projects that reach communities where new transmissions are a concern. The money pairs with a three-part plan: Change the perception of HIV; increase access to healthcare services, mental health and stigma services; and train local leaders to become advocates.

“This is a multi-layered approach that doesn’t look the same in each community,” said Ward of the Southern HIV/AIDS Coalition.

Ward said the effort to eliminate HIV in the South also will focus on providing more thorough education materials to college students. Most materials are not comprehensive enough to explain how the disease can be prevented, she said.

Sullivan said the detailed maps should inspire educators. “People are often surprised to see how greatly their region of state is impacted.”

Daniel Downer, who identifies as a queer black man, knows how valuable education can be. He grew up in Apopka as a preacher’s son and said his sex education was limited. It wasn’t until he moved to Atlanta as an adult that he got tested and learned he had HIV and "the harsh reality of not being equipped with the information, the tools about HIV education and HIV prevention.”

Downer is now in Orlando, where he has established The Bros in Convo Initiative to provide education to others. His organization is participating in the Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day.