skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

HIV Report: An Epidemic Waiting to Happen in TN?

play audio
Play

Tuesday, December 13, 2011   

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee is facing a possible HIV epidemic, according to new research from Duke University and the Southern HIV-AIDS Strategy Initiative. The report finds that 35 percent of newly-reported HIV infections came from eight southern states in 2009, the most recent year for which figures are available.

Proposed budget cuts already threaten HIV prevention and treatment programs, and Joseph Interrante, CEO of the HIV/AIDS service organization Nashville Cares, says these would have a devastating public health impact.

"We know today that treatment is prevention, and treating somebody in the early stages of HIV costs about half as much as it does to treat someone later."

He says early treatment saves more than $20,000 per patient, per year, and that when people living with HIV or AIDS get the health care and medications they need, they can live healthy and productive lives without risk of transmitting HIV to others.

Interrante says Tennessee receives more than $30 million annually in federal funding for HIV/AIDs education, prevention and treatment programs. Medicare and Medicaid provide even greater financial support and, in his view, everyone benefits from the funding.

"It's a 'win-win' situation to keep this funding going. It's an investment that saves lives and saves money, both now and in the future."

Allen Pinedo, who lives with HIV, relies on support from Medicaid and programs like Nashville Cares. He says cuts to those programs would likely put him in a no-win situation.

"I would have to make a choice: if I want health care, food or shelter. It would be very devastating to have to make that choice, which ones I want."

The data also indicate more than 99 percent of all people on waiting lists for the AIDS Drug Assistance Programs live in the South. Tennessee is one of the few southeastern states without a waiting list for its program, although increasing demand is expected to change that in 2012.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …


Organizations fighting wage theft said it harms affected workers and surrounding communities because the money withheld is not being circulated through the local economy. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Environment

play sound

A farm group is helping Iowa agriculture producers find ways to reduce the amount of nitrogen they use on their crops. Excess nitrates can wind up …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021