Northwest Arkansas has the second highest growing population of people living with HIV and AIDS in the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, seven states in the south, including Arkansas, make up 50% of the nation’s HIV and AIDS cases.
Healthcare Education Advocacy Leadership, HEAL, and HIV Arkansas are working to educate our community about the viruses.
HEAL’s needle exchange program allows people to bring in used needles and swap them out for clean one’s no questions asked. The hope is that will help stop the spread of HIV in Arkansas.
The northwest region of the natural state had 33 new AIDS and 41 new HIV cases in 2014.
That’s compared to the central region with 61 new AIDS and 153 new HIV cases in the same time period.
“The injection drug use is up in the area, and people are just having unprotected sex,” Michael Burks HIV Arkansas’ President said.
In 2014 there were 429 HIV/AIDS cases in Arkansas, the most since 2006; and according to the Arkansas Department of Health, injection drug use accounts for nearly 10% of new exposure.
“They don’t like to talk about it, it’s an uncomfortable issue,” Burks said.
A needle exchange program at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville offers free HIV and AIDS testing; which organizer Shelby Corruthers says is filling a need in our community.
“Testing I would say we’ve tested between 200 and 300 people, serving with the syringes 500 to 800 people,” Shelby Corruthers Executive Director of HEAL said.
In May, the group received federal grant, supplying them with 10,000 clean needles, but they are the only needle exchange program in the state.
“We want to expand into a mobile testing unit and go into the more rural areas,” Corruthers said.
She said preventing the virus starts with waking our kids up before they graduate.
“Have comprehensive health classes in our high schools and public schools,” she said.
And Michael Burks the president of HIV Arkansas said it’s about putting stigmas to sleep.
“If They’re sexually active they’re at risk, it’s not a gay man’s disease, it’s an everyone disease,”Burks said.
