HIV/AIDS in the DC suburbs (New report!)

Today the Washington AIDS Partnership, a project of Washington Grantmakers, released “The Profiles Project: How the Washington, DC Suburbs Respond to HIV/AIDS” (pdf). The District has one of the highest infection rates in the nation, but nearly half of those living with HIV/AIDS in the region live in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs. The study calls for better regional coordination/communications, and opt-out HIV screening in all healthcare settings. It points out that school-based HIV-prevention education is inconsistent and often timid. This morning’s news coverage includes:

• - D.C. suburbs lag behind city in efforts to fight AIDS, study says (WaPo, 4/27)
• - HIV Study Shows Washington Suburbs Need Cohesive Prevention Plan (WAMU, 4/27) -
  “[Partnership Executive Director Channing] Wickham says local governments have to start talking to each other. ‘Our biggest single recommendation is communication and collaboration.’”

• Dvorak: D.C. suburbs can no longer draw the shades on AIDS crisis (WaPo, 4/27) – “[T]he easiest, cheapest and best long-term solution is simply information,” but the “classic demonstration of unrolling a condom on a banana is forbidden in many schools that are little more than a Metro ride from the nation’s HIV/AIDS epicenter” … “The number of young people in Northern Virginia 13 to 19 years old with HIV went up 50 percent from 2006 to 2008″
• Kojo: HIV in the Suburbs (4/28) – featuring J. Channing Wickham (Washington AIDS Partnership), Emily Gantz McKay (Mosaica, author of the “Profiles Project” report), and Alicia Wilson (La Clinica del Pueblo)

The study was commissioned by the Washington AIDS Partnership and WG member Kaiser Permanente.