Nov 26, 2024
World AIDS Day on Friday, Nov. 29. Its a day meant to raise awareness about the AIDS epidemic and provide information about HIV prevention. Though HIV isnt a death sentence anymore, local medical officials want people to know that the virus is still here. In fact, according to the Florida Department of Health, over the past couple of years, there's been an increase in the HIV rate of Black women in Florida, with Pinellas County standing out.Dr. Bob Wallace runs Love the Golden Rule Clinic in St. Petersburg. He still remembers treating patients who contracted the virus back in the 1980s. "Unfortunately, every day was a death camp. I had buried over 500 people between 1987 and 1995," Wallace said. Seeing how society and the medical community often discriminated against those living with the virus, Wallace wanted to be a part of the solution. "I'm blessed with the fact that I was able to help be a leading investigator on a drug called FTC, which is now part of over 10 combinations of medications," Wallace said. "We did that study right here in St. Petersburg. But unfortunately, here in Pinellas County women of color their numbers have doubled since 2021 to 2022."ABC Action News' Anthony Hill wanted to learn more about this trend and find out what's being done to lower that number. He spoke with a local nurse practitioner who works in some of St. Pete's most underserved communities. Nurse Robin Taylor sees many of her HIV patients in a typical doctors office setting. However, many people in the community know Robin from a different setting. She's often in these neighborhoods on the ground providing health care services, including HIV testing. "I want to meet people where they are, get the message out and let them know it's OK," Taylor said. "That stigma that was there back in the day when HIV first came out. We got to bypass that, especially in our Black community." Taylor also makes it a point to educate the community that HIV is no longer a death sentence. Instead, with medication, one could be undetectable for the virus.On Friday, Dec. 6, Love The Golden Rule Clinic will throw a free community event for World Aids Day. "We're going to have an availability of people to stop in and see us at Love the Golden Rule so we can help get people tested for HIV," Wallace said. "We want to test as many people as possible."In addition to HIV testing, they'll also test for Hepatitis C and provide free flu vaccines.
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