Georgia ranks in the top five nationally for people living with HIV, according to the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. One in 51 people in Atlanta may be infected with HIV/AIDS at any given time. In Georgia, the number of Black males living with HIV is 6.1 times that of White males. Meanwhile, the rate of Black females in Georgia living with an HIV diagnosis is 11.7 times that of White females.
In response to the immediate need for HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention efforts in the Black community, the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine has announced the launch of a campaign specifically tailored to reach the Black community in Georgia called “Georgia Thrives.” The initiative aims to address the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on Black and African American people in this state.
Maisha Standifer, Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine director of population health, said that “we are looking at educating and providing more culturally competent and tailored toolkits and educational resources for clinicians to be able to directly provide the services that are needed, to be able to talk and to be able to guide those who are HIV possible or even HIV diagnosed. We’re working with communities and community-based organizations in rural areas in Georgia and not just the metropolitan Atlanta area.”
Dr. Standifer received a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College in Atlanta. She holds a master of public health degree from the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, and a doctorate in applied anthropology with a concentration in medical anthropology from the University of South Florida.
