in justice, Uncategorized

In Mississippi, Half of the People with HIV Aren’t Receiving Treatment

An upsetting report from Human Rights Watch via @jimmurphysf:

The 59-page report, “Rights at Risk: State Response to HIV in Mississippi,” documents the harmful impact of Mississippi’s policies on state residents, including people living with HIV and those at high risk of contracting it. Mississippi refuses to provide complete, accurate information about HIV prevention to students and threatens criminal penalties for failing to disclose one’s HIV status to sexual partners. At the same time, Mississippi provides little or no funding for HIV prevention, housing, transportation, or prescription drug programs for people living with HIV, and the state fails to take full advantage of federal subsidies to bolster these programs. In Mississippi, half of people testing positive for the virus are not receiving treatment, a rate comparable to that in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.