skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Wednesday, December 11, 2024

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

Ohio's milestone moment for women in government; Price growth ticked up in November as inflation progress stalls; NE public housing legal case touches on quality of life for vulnerable renters; California expert sounds alarm on avian flu's threat to humans, livestock.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Debates on presidential accountability, the death penalty, gender equality, Medicare and Social Security cuts; and Ohio's education policies highlight critical issues shaping the nation's future.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Many rural counties that voted for Trump also cast ballots against school vouchers and to protect abortion rights, Pennsylvania's Black mayors are collaborating to unite their communities and unique methods are being tried to address America's mental health crisis.

Arkansas Awaits Details of Trump's HIV Prevention Program

play audio
Play

Monday, March 11, 2019   

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Public-health advocates in Arkansas are still waiting to hear the details of a recently announced federal initiative aimed at ending new HIV infections in the U.S.

During his State of the Union address in February, President Donald Trump announced a plan designed to cut new infections by 75 percent in five years and 90 percent in 10 years. Arkansas is one of seven states with high rates of the deadly virus where the program will be focused.

Cornelius Mabin, president and CEO at the health education group Arkansas RAPPS, said while the state does have one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS in the country, they have only heard sketchy details of what exactly the plan entails.

"The plan that the Trump administration is talking about is to really look out into more of the rural parts of Arkansas or the rural parts of the state, where we do have some issues with people finding care, and continuing in care and finding clinicians and facilities out in those areas,” Mabin said.

Arkansas RAPPS is a foundation that operates programs across the state to treat and prevent HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C and other infectious diseases. The president's program is aimed at preventing new cases of HIV/AIDS, focusing initially in Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina, as well as 48 "high-burden" counties.

Mabin said the rate of HIV/AIDS in Arkansas falls disproportionately on minority and LGBTQ populations.

"According to our epidemiologist, we have 5,380 individuals who live with HIV here in Arkansas,” he said. “We do know that primarily people of color, blacks, African-American men basically 18-24. We've seen increases and we've concentrated our efforts in that area. "

Mabin said his group already participates in established HIV programs, but his main concern is with how much money the new program will provide and when Arkansas officials will see it.

"We haven't really had adequate time to get all of the details of it, but I understand where they're trying to go,” Mabin said. “But technically, what we've been using here is the National HIV Strategy, which was already done from the Obama administration."

According to the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, the new efforts will focus on four key strategies: Diagnose, Treat, Protect, and Respond.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
David Bintz' brother, Robert Bintz, was also released from prison this year and was represented by the Great North Innocence Project. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The Wisconsin Innocence Project is ending the year with some key victories including helping with the release of two men who each spent decades in pri…


Health and Wellness

play sound

By Dawn Attride for Sentient.Broadcast version by Shanteya Hudson for California News Service reporting for the Sentient-Public News Service Collabora…

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri has stepped up to fight childhood hunger by providing food aid over the summer for kids who rely on school meals for nutrition. The U.S…


A 2022 study of evictions in Lancaster County by the University of Nebraska College of Law found a high level of non-compliance in moving forward with such proceedings when tenants lacked counsel. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The public housing agency serving Nebraska's largest city faces legal action amid claims of poor living conditions for a tenant with disabilities…

Social Issues

play sound

Five years ago, Minnesota established a program to bolster well-being metrics for children of color and young Native American kids. Today, fund …

Out-of-pocket costs increased by $1700 on average for older Coloradans with Medicare Advantage coverage, plans claiming to limit health costs for people living on fixed incomes. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Between 2013 and 2022, health care spending in Colorado surged by 139% to nearly $30 billion, according to a new analysis by the Center for Improving …

Health and Wellness

play sound

Indianapolis is expanding its innovative Clinician-Led Community Response program, offering Hoosiers a new approach to handling mental health crises…

Social Issues

play sound

Worker-owned cannabis cooperatives in Rhode Island are striving to help those affected by the war on drugs. State law mandates at least six retail …

 

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