One-Third of Newly Diagnosed Poz People in Atlanta Already Have AIDS

Nearly one-third of people with HIV in Atlanta have already advanced to clinical AIDS by the time they are first diagnosed as HIV-positive, according to WABE, Atlanta’s NPR station.

According to the report, experts attribute this alarmingly high rate to the fact that HIV testing is not offered where most people get health care.

At Grady Hospital, the introduction of routine testing in the emergency room saw 1 percent of their patients tested positive. That comes out to almost two to three new HIV diagnoses a day.

“When we diagnose patients with HIV, the first time we are telling them they’ve been infected with HIV, we know that among our patients at Grady, nearly half of them have AIDS the day we diagnose them," Dr. Abigail Hankin-Wei, of FOCUS, an HIV testing program at Grady, told WABE.

You can listen to the full story here.