Editorial Roundup: Georgia

This Thursday is National HIV Testing Day, an effort to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS and promote testing and early detection.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, the annual event “serves as a vital reminder of the importance of knowing one’s HIV status and encourages everyone across all communities to take proactive steps to protect their health.”

In the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2020 HIV Surveillance Report, Georgia was ranked the 4th highest in the nation for the total number of new diagnoses of HIV infection among adults and adolescents. After the COVID-19 pandemic was declared a national and state emergency in March 2020, access to health care services, including HIV testing, prevention and care-related services, was reduced or temporarily suspended, making tracking of statistics on HIV and AIDS more challenging.

That’s why testing is vital.

Why is AIDS so prevalent in the Southern part of the U.S.? Our region has high poverty, uneven medical care, many rural areas with transportation and visibility issues and a population with less health insurance coverage.

The tragic fact is that a simple and relatively inexpensive test might be the difference between life and death, yet many people may not know that testing is available free of charge in several locations.

The Whitfield County Health Department and the Murray County Health Department both offer HIV testing. To learn more about these offices and others in the North Georgia Health District, visit nghd.org.

In many pockets of our community, the stigma against HIV/AIDS remains strong. It often forestalls many people from seeking testing.

Get tested and know your status. Encourage your partners and family members to do the same. It’s about generating awareness and erasing stigma.

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