HIV and AIDS continue rearing their ugly heads in Louisiana, according to recent data.
The Louisiana Office of Public Health’s quarterly HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report, released June 30, shows a statewide increase in the number of newly diagnosed cases.
According to statistics, the Baton Rouge metropolitan area is ranked first in the nation for the rate of AIDS cases, while the New Orleans metropolitan had the fifth highest rate.
The number of new HIV cases diagnosed here in Acadiana has remained steady in recent years, but the area still has one of the highest rates in the state following Baton Rouge and New Orleans, and is about neck-in-neck with Shreveport.
In the Lafayette Region – consisting of Acadia, Evangeline, Iberia, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. Martin and Vermilion parishes – the Office of Public Health reports there were 94 newly diagnosed cases of HIV and 57 new AIDS diagnoses between January and December 2011.
Statistics show that of the 94 new HIV cases reported here last year, 64 were men, 59 of which were black men. Among the new HIV cases, the majority, about 30 percent of the people diagnosed, were between the ages of 25 and 34.
According to the Baton Rouge Advocate, the epidemic's continued presence prompted a meeting Wednesday – the first in two years – of the Louisiana Commission on HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis C.
The Advocate reports that the reason for Wednesday's meeting was to allow the commission to weigh in on the recent statistics and discuss ways to move forward on the issue:
Late last year, Louisiana had one of the longest waiting lists in the nation for people waiting to receive medication through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. ADAP leverages state and federal funds to help those who are HIV positive and who do not have private insurance, Medicaid or Medicare.
“There is no magic wand where this commission can go and find some money to get something done. But this commission is comprised of members who have a lot of experience ... Here we brainstorm to figure out what is best for our state,” said Raman Singh, the commission’s chairman.
At the end of the meeting, Singh said the commission could make a good start at tackling issues by meeting on a regular basis.
Click here for statewide AIDS and HIV statistics, and here for more information on Louisiana's battle with the epidemic.
To read The Advocate's full coverage of Wednesday's commission meeting, go here.
MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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