Infectious disease experts say the HIV epidemic in Atlanta is comparable to infection prevalence in some third-world countries, according to a report from WSB-TV.
Carlos del Rio, MD, co-director of Emory University's Center for AIDS Research in Atlanta, told WSB-TV, "Downtown Atlanta is as bad as Zimbabwe or Harare or Durban."
According to a report issued by the CDC, the 2013 rate of HIV infection in Atlanta per 100,000 people was 42.5, which was the fifth highest rate of HIV infection for a metropolitan area that year. When examining specific impoverished communities in Atlanta, the rates of HIV infection jump as high as 170 per 100,000 people.
Dr. del Rio said the transmission of HIV is particularly prevalent in African-American communities with limited access to healthcare. "Don't have food on your table, have kids to take care of and somebody says you have HIV...that's just another problem that you have."
The situation in Atlanta has likely been worsened by the mismanagement of federal funds at the county level. In 2015, an internal audit revealed that Fulton County had squandered millions of dollars in CDC grant money meant for HIV programs. The county had to return millions in funding to the CDC, according to WSB-TV.
The county now has a new public health director. New HIV programs like mobile testing units are reportedly more visible in Atlanta zip codes with the highest rates of infection.
Dr. del Rio added, "We should not be having an epidemic of that proportion in a country like ours...this is not Africa, we have resources."
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