This put up was initially revealed on Atlanta Voice
By Dyana Bagby
On a heat Florida evening in Could 2013, Christopher “Tremendous” Inexperienced realized he was HIV-positive.
“I bought my prognosis on a date, really,” he mentioned. “I used to be relationship a man, and we needed to be intimate. He was finding out public well being, so we went to a clinic collectively.”
The consequence surprised him. Simply months earlier, he had examined detrimental. “I keep in mind feeling like my world had ended,” Inexperienced mentioned. “At this level, I felt like my life was over. Nobody was going to like me. That is it. Prepare. I’ve three years to reside.”
These early days have been marked by worry and disgrace. Disgrace made him really feel remoted, undesirable, untouchable. However Inexperienced’s finest buddy, T.J., promised to face by him. That assist, mixed with assembly J.J.—a younger, Black case supervisor who spoke his language and understood his experiences—shifted all the things. J.J. impressed Inexperienced to pursue public well being himself.
Ten years later, Inexperienced is flourishing. He works as a lead prevention navigator at Right here’s to Life, a nonprofit in Atlanta’s West Finish serving males with HIV and substance use issues. He tells his story overtly as a result of silence, he mentioned, solely fuels stigma.
“For many individuals, the stigma is extra harmful than HIV itself,” Inexperienced defined. “It retains folks from getting examined, beginning remedy, or reaching out for assist.”
Inexperienced’s story mirrors a bigger disaster: HIV continues to disproportionately have an effect on Black communities within the South, the place systemic inequities drive persistent disparities.
Structural Inequities
Nationwide, greater than 1.13 million folks have been dwelling with HIV in 2023, in keeping with AIDSVu, a mission of Emory College. These aged 55–64 made up the most important group, 26%. Black people accounted for 39% of individuals dwelling with HIV—regardless of being simply 12% of the U.S. inhabitants. The prevalence charge amongst Black Individuals was seven instances increased than amongst white Individuals.
The disparities begin with prevention. In 2023, Black Individuals made up 38% of recent HIV diagnoses however simply 14% of these eligible for PrEP, a extremely efficient prevention capsule.
“These systemic inequities are the primary driver,” mentioned Rashad Burgess, vp of company accountability at Gilead Sciences. “We’ve identified this for a very long time, and it’s nonetheless true at the moment.”
Atlanta is among the nation’s HIV hotspots, with Fulton County reporting that Black residents account for greater than 60% of recent diagnoses, although they make up roughly 40% of the inhabitants. AIDSVu maps present the hardest-hit neighborhoods concentrated in southwest Atlanta and alongside the I-20 hall, areas formed by housing instability, restricted transportation, and scarce entry to culturally competent healthcare.
“Being able to get a experience to a physician’s workplace is essential,” Burgess mentioned. “In case you’re unstably housed, it’s onerous to remain on medicines. And should you’re not virologically suppressed, you’re extra more likely to transmit the virus and your well being outcomes decline.”
Gaps in Prevention
Entry to PrEP stays one of many largest gaps. Even when Black sufferers are engaged in healthcare, Burgess mentioned, they’re much less more likely to be supplied PrEP as a consequence of supplier bias.
“What we discover to be actually profitable are techniques that routinize HIV screening,” he mentioned. “That method, folks know their standing and, if detrimental, will be supplied PrEP as a pure subsequent step.”
Longtime Atlanta activist Daniel Driffin mentioned too many suppliers nonetheless refer sufferers to specialty clinics as a substitute of prescribing PrEP themselves. Mixed with excessive uninsured charges and Georgia’s refusal to broaden Medicaid, many fall via the cracks.
“We’re ready for folks to be taught they’re dwelling with HIV earlier than we intervene,” Driffin mentioned. “That’s a horrible place to be in public well being.”
Driffin and different activists launched a community-led prevention mannequin to deal with the hole. Over 60 days, greater than 150 contributors helped design a program centered on three pillars: sturdy HIV testing, a pooled “folks’s purse” to fund prevention efforts, and culturally resonant messaging.
“We create a hand-holding state of affairs till that particular person begins care,” Driffin mentioned. “Neighborhood-led options alongside public well being oversight be sure that folks aren’t being forgotten.”
Progress and Threats
Medical advances have made HIV manageable. In 2023, 82.8% of newly identified people have been linked to care, 76.3% of individuals dwelling with identified HIV obtained care, and 67.2% achieved viral suppression.
“You’ll be able to reside a traditional life, have a traditional lifespan, along with your virus being managed by remedy,” Burgess mentioned.
However progress is fragile. Greater than 80% of CDC prevention funding helps state and native well being departments via the federal Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. Proposed cuts of practically $1.5 billion to Medicaid and CDC budgets might erode years of beneficial properties, resulting in extra infections nationwide.
The Weight of Stigma
Even with drugs and prevention instruments, stigma stays the toughest barrier to interrupt, notably within the South.
“As a matter of truth, many argue stigma is the primary barrier,” Burgess mentioned. “It impacts whether or not folks entry PrEP, whether or not they search remedy, and whether or not they’re identified late or with AIDS.”
To shift perceptions, Gilead invests in campaigns that includes trusted voices—from religion leaders to barbershops to celebrities like Tamar Braxton, who has publicly shared her use of PrEP. Partnerships with Morehouse College of Drugs prolong outreach to rural Georgia.
“We have now to normalize HIV prevention and care as a part of general wellness,” Burgess mentioned. “Which means visible illustration, trusted messengers, and community-driven dialogue.”
For Inexperienced, that mission is private. Every time he shares his story, he chips away on the silence that when left him remoted.
“I realized what care seems like from one other Black man as a result of he knew tips on how to relate to me, tips on how to pour into me what I wanted versus giving me simply scientific data,” Inexperienced mentioned.
“We regularly speak in regards to the social determinants of well being inside public well being areas, akin to housing, employment, and entry to a cellphone. However we will’t miss crucial factor, and that’s the particular person and assembly them the place they’re.”
The put up A Analysis, A Decade, and the Weight of Stigma appeared first on The Atlanta Voice.
