Hiv
CDC Director Visits Alabama to Discuss Ending HIV
The director of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Dr. Robert Redfield, visited Montgomery on Friday to discuss strategies to combat HIV.
Gay Men Blood Donors Not as Risky as Once Thought, Researchers Say
For decades, many gay men have been prohibited from donating blood. They were considered high-risk during the AIDS epidemic back in the 1980s. As of two years ago, they can donate if they’ve abstained from sex for a year, but some researchers say that’s unrealistic and unnecessary.
Churches Could Be Key To Ending HIV Stigma In Rural Alabama
According to the Centers for Disease Control, African Americans account for 75 percent of Alabama's HIV cases, but only about 25 percent of the state's population. In many neighborhoods, HIV is a disease spoken about in whispers. People are scared to get tested, and scared to be seen going to a clinic. In order to combat stigma and increase awareness, doctors and academics are going to an unlikely place -- the church -- in an attempt to break down some barriers. Ashley Cleek traveled down to the Black Belt to see how it's going.
HIV/AIDS in the South
A new report from the Southern AIDS Coalition says HIV has taken hold in the Deep South, plaguing some of the poorest people in the country and creating a health disaster.
AIDS: The Epidemic in Alabama
More than 9-thousand Alabamians are living with HIV or AIDS; if you take into account those who've died from the illness, then more than 14-thousand Alabamians have been infected with the virus. And infection rates are expected to go up as the AIDS epidemic, so often thought of as a big city issue, becomes increasingly a rural issue and a southern issue. There are myriad challenges to getting the word out about HIV/AIDS -- there's the stigma, religion and a money shortage for starters. In a special report, 'AIDS: The Epidemic in Alabama', WBHM's Rosemary Pennington examines what people here in the state are doing to combat HIV.
Meth and AIDS
Methamphetamine is a cheap to make, cheap to buy drug. Its use is exploding in some parts of the country; the drug is called the biggest drug threat to Alabama by one agency. Some researchers are worried the increasing abuse of meth will spike another flare in the transmission of HIV. WBHM's Rosemary Pennington has more.
One Woman’s Story
HIV, once thought of as a virus that affected mainly men, is becoming more of a women's issue. The women who do become infected typically get the virus from a husband or boyfriend. Marvelyn Brown talks about her life as an HIV positive woman in the South.
World AIDS Day
More than forty million people the world over are living with HIV/AIDS with five million new infections this year alone. December 1st is World AIDS Day. Started in 1988 it is an international event which aims to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS issues. In this web excluse WBHM's Rosemary Pennington speaks with an AIDS educator about the day and the epidemic.
New AIDS Drug
There is a pantheon of drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS -- the problem is that the virus mutates, keeping up with it is proving to be a problem. Researchers at Rutgers University, though, have created a drug they think could mean longer-lasting treatment for AIDS patients.
