{"id":814,"date":"2024-07-18T20:25:36","date_gmt":"2024-07-19T00:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/?post_type=article&p=814"},"modified":"2024-08-26T08:51:25","modified_gmt":"2024-08-26T12:51:25","slug":"adam-atigh-op-ed","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/articles\/adam-atigh-op-ed\/","title":{"rendered":"The HIV\/AIDS Crisis of Jackson"},"template":"","class_list":["post-814","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":{"details":{"summary":"Adam Atigh","featured_image":"","article_type":false,"authors":"","related_issues":false,"related_work":false,"location":null},"sidebar":{"helper_enable_sidebar":false,"helper_media_contact":{"heading":"Media Contact","manually_enter_person":false,"person":"","name":"","role":"","phone":"","email":""},"helper_links_downloads":{"heading":"Links & Downloads","links":null}},"page_layout":[{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_wysiwyg","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_wysiwyg":{"content":"In understanding the healthcare disparities and inadequacies that plague Mississippi, there is perhaps no issue that greater illustrates the inequities perpetuated by our system than our handling of the rampant spread of HIV\/AIDs in this state. Reaching, and even surpassing, epidemic levels in the state, this crisis reflects not only the incapability of our systems to deal with viral disease outbreaks in general, but the<\/span> the<\/span> ineptitude, bordering on downright negligence, of our state\u2019s governmental, healthcare, and spiritual leadership in addressing this often ignored catastrophe.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nMy fury regarding this topic is not one unique to myself \u2013 nor is it one that lacks rooting in analytical fact: Mississippi is almost without equal in how the toll the virus continues to take on its population. A 2015 NIH study confirmed as much, reporting that the Magnolia state\u2019s new infection rate is the highest in the country and the highest AIDs death rate \u2013 with a likelihood of death that is twice that of the mean American living in another state. This disparity is even more pronounced when centered on the two most problematic regions in the state as regards the virus: the Mississippi Delta and, just to its south, the state\u2019s capital city Jackson. The Delta\u2019s overall infection rate of 17.8 per 100,000 persons is over 60% higher than the national rate of 11.2 and the City of Jackson\u2019s was the fourth highest of any metropolitan area in the country \u2013 and the capital\u2019s infection rate for gay men, in recent years, has not failed to claim the top spot. The specific stratification of HIV\/AIDS infection across the state becomes more apparent as one zooms out to the broader state level: African Americans make up only 38% of the state\u2019s population, but represent 78% of total HIV contractions. And these last facts point to a more narrow and more troubling issue, one just as chilling as it is unsurprising: these disparities in care are just as easily linked to matters of race, gender, and sexual orientation as they are class.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe same set of factors that dictate so much of one\u2019s quality of healthcare in this state \u2013 maternal death rate, obesity, heart disease \u2013 is, unsurprisingly, an accurate indicator of the core groups that will have to deal with the scourge of the AIDS epidemic in this state with little to no support from the institutions charged to come to their aid. The state has consistently failed to take into account the needs of those most in need of state resources, and this failure is particularly pronounced when one considers the recent debacle regarding the state\u2019s reluctant, tepid expansion of Medicaid, which took years too long and forced thousands of low-income-earning Mississippians to arbitrarily forgo coverage \u2013 a gap in coverage that will surely be felt by those living with HIV and AIDS.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\r\n\r\nThis jarring reality calls on us to demand our leadership understand the importance of new, forward-thinking legislation that seeks to close this gap in care. One\u2019s access to reliable, first-rate medical care in this state should not be contingent upon class, race, sexual orientation, or one\u2019s HIV status. The state must, as a component of its new Medicaid expansion program, expand access to HIV\/AIDS testing, treatment, and awareness, as well as providing those living with HIV with assurances of their privacy in a climate where being known to have the disease can be extremely damaging to one\u2019s professional and public life. The state must do more to ensure that access to care for this disease is not restricted on the basis of archaic attitudes about the lives led by people who are HIV positive \u2013 especially as the rest of the country moves to a more progressive way of stemming the spread and helping the vulnerable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>"}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_add_component","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_add_component":null},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_work","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_work":{"heading":"Work","manually_curate":false,"work":null}},{"acf_fc_layout":"layout_related_articles","_acfe_flexible_toggle":"","component_related_articles":{"heading":"Updates","button_text":"See all Related Articles","manually_curate":false,"articles":null}}]},"yoast_head":"\nThe HIV\/AIDS Crisis of Jackson - Youth Engagement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/articles\/adam-atigh-op-ed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The HIV\/AIDS Crisis of Jackson\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/articles\/adam-atigh-op-ed\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Youth Engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-26T12:51:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/common-cause-share-image.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/articles\/adam-atigh-op-ed\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.commoncause.org\/emerging-power\/articles\/adam-atigh-op-ed\/\",\"name\":\"The HIV\/AIDS Crisis of Jackson - 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