by Bob Roehr
The HIV/AIDS Atlas, unveiled at a June 22 news conference, offers a new online tool for advocates to look at the burden of disease within their communities and how it breaks down along standard demographic and political lines.
It visually makes clear that 40 percent of the national HIV caseload is found in just 20 of the nation's 3,225 counties; 80 percent is found in 200 counties. After the largest cities, the epidemic is spread most broadly across the south.
"We believe that every community ought to know its status … to make appropriate interventions as well as to advocate," said Gary Puckrein, president of the National Minority Quality Forum, which created the tool using existing health data. The group already maps other chronic conditions such as diabetes and kidney disease.
"We can begin to ask questions about prevention issues, access issues, quality of care issues, making sure that our resources are in alignment" with the caseload, he said, adding that it is hard for community-based organizations to collect and analyze that type of data on their own.
The interactive map uses 2006 data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and county public health officials. The Forum hopes to add to that as new data becomes available, and overlay it with additional information provided by Medicare and Medicaid.
The information can be searched down to the zip code level in New York City but is broader in many other jurisdictions where the caseload is lighter. That is because of privacy concerns for the confidentiality of those living with HIV.
Goulda Downer, with the National Minority AIDS Education and Training Center at Howard University, applauded the effort. "The number of people living with HIV continues to climb," she said, "therefore the population in need of prevention services continues to grow as well."
The HIV/AIDS Atlas is available at http://www.maphiv.org. Registration is required but the site is free.
