Miranda Klein

mklein@thetowntalk.com

HIV is appearing in more young people, according to the deputy director of the Louisiana Office of Public Health STD/HIV program.

Speaking at a yearly symposium focused on local health and social disparities, Chaquetta Johnson suggested lack of sex education, poverty and stigma are among the reasons for such high rates of the virus affecting more than 10,000 people in the state, including 1,175 ages 0-24.

"We see that our population is getting younger when they are affected," said Johnson, who was invited to speak in Alexandria by the Office of Public Health Region 6, where she once was based as a nurse.

There are nearly 1,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Alexandria region, which has the fourth-highest HIV rates in the state, according to 2015 data from the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. The department reported that year 23 percent of newly diagnosed HIV cases in the region were among youth and young adults between the ages of 13 and 24.

Symposium speakers also highlighted how significantly HIV affects black people. Blacks account for 69 percent of people diagnosed with the virus in Louisiana and 66 percent of people locally, according to DHH.

"We know that racism and maltreatment (of minorities) continues to influence our health disparities," Johnson said.

Dr. David Holcombe, medical director and administrator for Region 6 of the Office of Public Health in Alexandria, lamented that for decades Louisiana has ranked either first, second or third in the nation for HIV case rates.

"We don’t want to be No. 1 in this," he said.

Johnson believes Louisiana doesn’t have to. The goal of the Louisiana Office of Public Health STD/HIV program is to eliminate STD and HIV infections, and Johnson said it's possible through advances in primary and secondary prevention efforts.

"That may be ambitious, but it can be realized," she said.