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by lauren labbé meher ? i tested
hiv
positive 12 years ago and immediately went on medication. for the last ten of those 12 years, i have tested ?
hiv
-undetectable.? i think we need more education and less stigma surrounding
hiv
. it is not the ?disease? it once was in the 80s. it is more manageable, and people are living long, healthy lives with the
hiv
virus,? shares a local resident with
hiv
who believes that work to remove the stigma once associated with
hiv
is a step in the right direction. however, in 2017, louisiana had the third highest
hiv
diagnosis in the united states. in 2015, baton
rouge
ranked second for estimated
hiv
case rates among the largest metropolitan areas in the united states. sometimes, it might seem easier to look the other way and say, ?that?s not my problem.? although it might not be your problem directly, it very well may be a problem that your friend, neighbor, or co-worker is silently battling. author anthony j. d?angelo says, ?without a sense of caring, there can be no sense of community.? it?s time we take a closer look at how
hiv
impacts our community and the ways we can help our friends and neighbors who are living with
hiv
. according to the louisiana department of health quarterly report from march 2018, there are approximately 5,380 people currently living with
hiv
/aids in metro baton
rouge
. while the baton
rouge
area foundation reports that the number of new cases of
hiv
is at the lowest it has been in two decades, baton
rouge
still remains one of the highest ranked cities for new cases. it?s been over 30 years since
hiv
was first defined, but the virus isn?t going away. in 2017, 1,035 new
hiv
cases were diagnosed in louisiana, with about 21 percent of these coming from baton
rouge
. the majority of new
hiv
diagnoses are among persons ages 15-34 years old.
hiv
continues to disproportionately affect african-americans in louisiana. in fact, in 2017, 73 percent of the new diagnoses were african-american. this is six times higher than caucasians and two times higher than hispanics. the statistics are staggering, but they may serve as a wake up call for parents as to why this is such an important issue to everyone in our community. as parents, the best thing that you can do is to educate yourself first, so that you can then work to educate the next generation. how is
hiv
transmitted
?
hiv
is
transmitted
in specific ways such as: having unprotected sex, sharing needles, and less commonly, transferring from mother to child during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. meta smith davis of
hiv
/ aids alliance for region two (haart) suggests that when educating our children, it is equally important to dispel myths and teach them how
hiv
is not
transmitted
.
hiv
cannot be
transmitted
by hugging, shaking hands, sharing toilets, sharing dishes, or closed-mouth ?social? kissing with someone who is
hiv
positive. it is not
transmitted
through saliva, tears, or sweat that is not mixed with the blood of an
hiv
positive person. it cannot be
transmitted
by mosquitoes, ticks, or other blood-sucking sometimes, it might seem easier to look the other way and say, ?that?s not my problem.? although it might not be your problem directly, it very well may be a problem that your friend, neighbor, or co-worker is silently battling.
hiv
in baton
rouge
talking with your children about
hiv
and aids 3 8 b r p a r e n t s . c o m | 2 0 1 9
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