In 2019, the Southern AIDS Coalition, a nonprofit organization that aims to end the HIV and STI epidemics in the South by promoting accessible and high-quality systems of [HIV and STI] prevention, treatment, care, housing, and essential support services, along with its many partners, Georgia Equality included, introduced the first Southern HIV & AIDS Awareness Day on August 20, 2019. In 2020, the Center for Disease Control recognized SHAAD as a National Awareness Day.

Why the South? Georgia Equality’s Ending the Epidemic Fellow, Taylor Brown, explains in his recent article published in Project Q: “Georgia had the highest rate of new HIV diagnoses and the fourth highest total number of diagnoses in the United States in 2019, according to the CDC’s most recent HIV Surveillance Report. That same year, the Georgia Department of Public Health cited 2,504 newly diagnosed individuals, bringing the total number of Georgians living with HIV to 56,000.”

The South, due to systemic barriers, including but not limited to access to healthcare, resources, and lack of public transportation, no Medicaid expansion, and rural hospital closures, all come together to intersect in underserved and marginalized communities. This lack of access to care and education reflects in the number of HIV diagnoses. Learn more about these barriers here.

In recognition of this day and the mission to spread awareness and information, this year, on August 20, 2021, Georgia Equality, along with the Southern AIDS Coalition, hosted a series of hybrid events, which included a discussion with Youth HIV Policy Advisor Program participant Kayla Quimbley and Albany Area Primary Healthcare’s Dawn Robinson, viewed here, along with a social media storm that provided facts that would educate and address the stigma around people living with HIV, testing, and treatment. 

Georgia Equality’s Ending the Epidemic Fellows came together and built a resource toolkit for providers and patients, which can be accessed here. They also created a short video that explores the criminalization of HIV and its effects in Georgia, which you may view here.

With the goal of moving further out of the metro area to assist people living with HIV statewide, Georgia Equality’s Development and Communications Coordinator, Alexa Bryant, visited Albany’s News Station for a live interview, in which she discussed the importance of SHAAD, U=U, and de-stigmatizing HIV. Her last message was clear: “Each of us can impact the HIV epidemic in our own small way. Getting tested, knowing your status and encouraging others to do the same, shutting down stigma and misinformation when we hear it, engaging in preventive measures like using prep, condoms, and advocating for broad healthcare access.” 

We want to thank all of our partners, the Southern AIDS Coalition, Albany Area Primary Health Care, & Albany Housing Authority, who were integral in spreading our resources to their community.

For more information, or to join us in the movement to #endtheepidemic, please visit us here. 

Also, please follow the Georgia HIV Advocacy Network on Facebook for more information and future ways to get involved.