ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Some new numbers that say Georgia is leading the nation in a horrific stat, saying the state has the longest waiting list for AIDS treatment.
This is according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial Aids Directors (NASTAD). The numbers say there are 1,348 Georgians diagnosed with HIV and AIDS who don't have insurance, need financial help with their treatments, and on are the wait list for ADAP, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
The numbers also show that the South as a region, from Virginia down to the Gulf Coast, is responsible for 99 percent of the cases on this list.
Advocates of AIDS drug assistance programs say proper treatment not only keeps those affected healthy for a longer period of time, but it drastically reduces costs on taxpayers as a whole.
"In every illness, it's more disparaging in the South," said Larry Lehman, executive director of AID Gwinnett. "And our programs haven't kept pace. It's a funding issue, over and over, and a priority in those funding them."
The NASTAD document can be found here.
The Georgia Department of Public Health, which oversees HIV prevention and care in the state, sent 11Alive a statement on the matter Thursday afternoon. They note that the number of people on the waiting list is actually "a decrease of 384 ... since receiving $3 million in federal funds in October. This is a tremendous milestone, although there is still more work to be done."
The statement goes on:
Georgia's ADAP waiting list exists due to several realities:
(1) high rates of HIV/AIDS in Georgia and the burden of disease in the south;
(2) available state funds to address issues for HIV prevention and ADAP waiting list;
(3) mobilization to increase awareness and people knowing their HIV status; and
(4) and the growing number of underinsured and uninsured people due to economic or personal reasons.
Advocates of the prevention programs say that right now, folks on the waiting list have been given out-of-pocket help from pharmacies helping to provide low-cost treatment. Still, those advocates don't know how long that help will last.
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