“The public health points of intervention — which are getting tested, getting diagnosed, getting into care, staying in care — we see that people are really falling off along the way. It’s called the ‘cascade effect.’ As a whole in the country, we’re not doing a good job,” said Pickett.
“It’s obscene that only about 20 percent of people living with HIV have undetectable viral loads,” Pickett said, meaning they are actively taking HIV medicines and have a low risk of passing on the virus.
For those whose everyday work is in HIV/AIDS, ensuring access to comprehensive care for people is the most important battle.
“There is awareness and then there is education,” Briggs said. “The issue was never really awareness. Gay men were always getting tested, but it was the frequency of testing that needed to be changed.”
Throughout Chicago, there have been more testing efforts at social venues, as well as “need to know” HIV campaigns.
“The recommendation is to get tested every six months, but now we are telling people with high-risk factors or multiple partners that it should probably be every three months,” Briggs said.
Article Appeared @http://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/9-10-2013/Advocates-battle-surging-HIV-rates-in-Chicago/