U.S.: Mississippi Policies Fuel HIV Epidemic

By Megan McLemore, senior health researcher at Human Rights Watch

(Jackson, Mississippi) - Thousands of Mississippians are at risk for HIV, and many who are infected are denied lifesaving measures and treatment because of counterproductive state laws and policies, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Mississippi has resisted effective approaches to HIV prevention and treatment and instead supported policies that promote stigma and discrimination, fueling one of the nation's highest AIDS rates, Human Rights Watch said.

The 59-page report, "Rights at Risk: State Response to HIV in Mississippi," documents the harmful impact of Mississippi's policies on state residents, including people living with HIV and those at high risk of contracting it. Mississippi refuses to provide complete, accurate information about HIV prevention to students and threatens criminal penalties for failing to disclose one's HIV status to sexual partners. At the same time, Mississippi provides little or no funding for HIV prevention, housing, transportation, or prescription drug programs for people living with HIV, and the state fails to take full advantage of federal subsidies to bolster these programs. In Mississippi, half of people testing positive for the virus are not receiving treatment, a rate comparable to that in Botswana, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.

"Many people living with HIV in Mississippi can't get to clinics, can't afford treatment, and can't keep a roof over their heads, while young people can't get essential information about how to protect themselves," said Megan McLemore, senior health researcher at Human Rights Watch. "These are public health failures that threaten fundamental rights to life and health of all Mississippians."

Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 65 people in Mississippi for the report, including people living with HIV and AIDS, AIDS service organizations, and public officials throughout the state.

In Mississippi, the highest rates of HIV exposure are among men who have sex with men, while heterosexual women are the second-largest group affected by the disease. Young people in Mississippi are becoming infected with HIV at increasingly high rates, and racial disparities in HIV and AIDS infections are dramatic. African-Americans constitute 37 percent of the population but 76 percent of new cases of HIV.

"HIV is taking a devastating toll on African-American communities in Mississippi," McLemore said.

One husband and wife interviewed by Human Rights Watch are both HIV-positive. He is in a wheelchair, debilitated from AIDS, and they live in constant fear of eviction as their limited income is barely sufficient to pay the rent. Despite evidence that housing is critical to the ability of individuals with HIV to maintain their health, and the state's own estimate that 3,500 people with HIV will have unmet housing needs in the next five years, Mississippi provides no funds for housing for people living with HIV and AIDS.

"We survive by the grace of God but not much else," Sheila R. (a pseudonym), told Human Rights Watch about their daily struggle to meet basic needs.

Mississippi is among the poorest of all U.S. states, which entitles it to substantial federal funds that could support HIV/AIDS housing and health care services. Yet it has consistently failed to take full advantage of these funds. The state recently sued to block national health care reform legislation that would expand Medicaid eligibility for many people living with HIV, with the cost borne primarily by the federal government. According to the report, Mississippi's unwillingness to accept federal support for its residents with HIV contributes to death rates from AIDS that are far higher than the national average.

Mississippi also clings to failed approaches to sex and HIV education, Human Rights Watch said. Mississippi has some of the nation's highest rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis, sexually transmitted diseases that can significantly increase an individual's risk of becoming infected with HIV. Yet the state legislature has repeatedly refused to approve programs that provide complete, accurate information about HIV and pregnancy prevention, insisting on ineffective abstinence-only curricula in the public schools. The result, Human Rights Watch said, is the denial of potentially life-saving information to adolescents, putting them at unnecessary risk of HIV infection.

Mississippi's laws and policies contribute to the extreme stigma associated with HIV, which for many people is more frightening than the disease itself, Human Rights Watch said. One woman told Human Rights Watch that she threw out her AIDS medications when staying with relatives for fear that they would discover her HIV status.

Human Rights Watch found that Mississippi laws and policies contribute to the problem by promoting prejudice and discrimination against those vulnerable and perceived to be vulnerable to HIV. Numerous legal provisions, including constitutional amendments, discriminate against homosexuals, and state sex education laws marginalize lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth. In some instances, state public health workers have been found to harass and threaten people testing positive for HIV.

Human Rights Watch also described the negative consequences of Mississippi laws that criminalize the potential exposure of another person to HIV. Domestic and international health organizations have urged the rejection of such laws because they undermine HIV prevention efforts. Such laws promote misinformation about HIV transmission, for example, by including behaviors such as spitting and biting that are not associated with spread of the virus. They also threaten the health and safety of women living with HIV, who may fear violence or other negative consequences if they disclose their status. These laws also penalize those who know their HIV status, providing an incentive for people to avoid HIV testing.

Mississippi's HIV epidemic is growing fastest among men who have sex with men, a population that remains largely underground and out of the reach of public health services. The report finds that Mississippi laws prohibiting adoption by homosexuals, constitutional amendments banning gay marriage, and other anti-gay laws and policies contribute to the problem by fostering prejudice and stigma. One man told Human Rights Watch, "Being gay with HIV in Mississippi is a terrible curse."

"Mississippi's approach to AIDS is not working," McLemore said. "Mississippi needs to update its policies, ensure adequate funding, and respect human rights."

 

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Comments

[Bike Commuter]

01:18 PM on 03/16/2011

I really don't intend to defend Mississippi for their policies. I disagree with those Mississippi policies that have been described here. It is just backwards thinking that doesn't do anything, and often creates greater problems. What I don't see though is the numbers that back up the assertions. I am looking at the numbers from both 2008 and 2009. Mississippi has higher than average rates, but not nearly as high as many other states, regardless of policy. Examining the maps and tables one thing becomes obvious as that clear determining factor for a state's rate. That is the racial demographics of that state, particularly African-Americans. Almost across the board, the rates are many times higher for African-Americans. In some states (even progressive states) the rate is as much as 20 times higher. In Mississippi the rate for black persons is approximately 10 times that of white persons. That is, sadly, the average differential rate for the entire US. Certainly Mississippi's policies need changing, but I believe the primary focus should be on how to increase protection for African-Americans and other at risk groups. I don't care if we have to start paying people to get tested and pay for their care if it is positive. It needs to be addressed.

[Francois Skinzer]

09:29 PM on 03/14/2011

HIV is also being fueled by HSV. Having HSV2 increases one's chances of transmitting and acquiring HIV three-fold. The US government, not just Mississippi appears to be ignoring HSV. HSV is also linked to:
Alzheimers
Blindness
Prostate Cancer

Please encourage the US government to increase HSV research funding by signing these free and anonynmous petitions:

http://www.petition2congress.com/3875/decrease-us-unemployment-find-cure-herpes/
http://www.petition2congress.com/3738/increase-herpes-research-funding/
http://www.change.org/petitions/please-increase-herpes-research-funding#?opt_new=t

Thanks!

[cindyperry]

08:51 AM on 03/13/2011

So much for common sense and saving lives there folks

[hornedcog]

08:44 PM on 03/12/2011

Barbour for president? We need protection!

[Kestrel10]

01:28 PM on 03/11/2011

I for one, am looking forward to Haley Barbour's campaign for President. He can campaign on his record in Mississippi. I can't wait for him to say, "I can do to America what I've already done to Mississippi. The best way, I believe to make America more competitive with China and India is to turn America into the Third World. I've started this process in Mississippi and I look forward to spreading to each and every state in America. Heck, my efforts to gut spending on HIV treatment and prevention will ultimately lower America's spending on social security. We can fix social security by simply lowering the lifespan of most Americans as we have already done in Mississippi."

[PCPrincess]

11:42 AM on 03/11/2011

If Mississipi chooses to live this way, cut them off completely. Those who choose to leave the state will be helped to move. The rest, conservatives and fundamentalists can rot with their ideals.

[ScientistfromtheHood]

01:32 PM on 03/11/2011

lol, I thought people weren't supposed to group people together and make generalizations, but here you are doing just that. Ignoring group behavior is an idiotic approach to dealing with issues. We live in country of 300 million people. In order to discuss issues we have to group people together and make generalizations. These generalizations should be based on facts, however.

[herkyc130]

04:17 AM on 03/13/2011

these fundlementalist and their extremist views are showing up in the national politics as the corporate politicians are making headway with fueling pregnancies in youg women by destroying the support of planned parenthood and if they have babies they are destroying programs like wic or headstart, but the claim they are Christians in government so I am not surprised that they fuel aids epidemics next it will be madicaid to help old people to die faster or social security to move people into the streets to die faster but in the name of corporate religion the stand together for tax cuts for the filthy rich

[Vegan Girl]

08:55 AM on 03/11/2011

And they say the dark age is over.

[tomstedham]

08:53 AM on 03/11/2011

I'm confused as to how providing "criminal penalties for failing to disclose one's HIV status to sexual partners" is a bad thing...

I strongly favor a law that locks you up if you don't tell a sex partner you have HIV (or any std)...

Seriously, why is this listed as a bad thing by the MS gov't? Does anyone think this should be legally ok?

[lakefront liberal]

12:22 AM on 03/15/2011

Because this prevents people from being tested. If you know that you could go to jail if you get tested and then find out that you have HIV, some people would rather just not know and go about their merry way. That's why it's then spread so widely. People in other states who knowingly transmit HIV have been arrested because it's considered assault, so you really don't need a separate law. To codify this language specifically to HIV and no other dieseases further stigmatizes HIV and keeps people in the shadows.

[tomstedham]

11:16 AM on 03/15/2011

You don't "go to jail" IF YOU HAVE HIV, you only "go to jail" IF YOU INFECT SOMEONE ELSE WITH HIV!!! You don't get arrested just for a positive HIV test... Geez.

Seriously, how can you not see the difference??? The "criminal penalties" in the law I pointed out require an HIV-positive person to INFORM A POTENTIAL SEX PARTNER. It doesn't criminalize sex.

If you can show me another life-threatening disease that can be spread thru sexual activity, I will gladly support adding it to the list!

[nohpiano]

08:45 AM on 03/11/2011

The average obscene cost that Pharma charges for one month of a typical HIV drug regimen is around $2,000 monthly. Why? WHen it is far far cheaper in other countries? Because we Americans are LAZY at complaining about injustice (except, apparently, Wisconsin). If one does not have insurance, you are dead meat. If you have an income but can't afford the drugs because , well , you need to eat too, forget it. We still need to think of our taxes as a national pool of money FOR THE COMMON GOOD: Health, Education and infrastructure. And we need to get out on the streets and insist that it be used as such, and not for running up deficits by invading sovereign nations for NO REASON. A friend of mine in England pays ca. $6 out of pocket for his HIV regimen. And she would not have to if she could not afford even that.

[DesertRatzoRizzo]

08:36 AM on 03/11/2011

And if Haley Barbour, Mississippi's Republican Governor, ever becomes President of the United States, this is what the entire country can expect.

[tyger]

08:35 AM on 03/11/2011

I do not know why any people of color would live in this state. Racism abounds. Ignorance abounds. These are serious civil rights violations yet no one from the justice dept has intervened.

[Decipherer]

07:56 AM on 03/11/2011

This makes those hideous syphilus experiments on blacks and mentally-challenged people back in the '40s and early '50s seem tame by comparison.

In a series of deliberate acts and decisions, an entire population of a state is being up at unnecessary risk of a killer disease, serving as an incubator for this disease so it can be transmitted elsewhere.

Good one, Mississippi. Keep that bar as low as possible.

One more thing: Mississippi is a prime example of why we need a unified NATIONAL government, not one that is dominated by 50 states, just to keep rogue states like this from making it infinitely worse for the rest of us.

[kelbell]

07:42 AM on 03/11/2011

Gosh, life in the southern states of this country really is like a whole other planet.....I'm embarrassed that my country has allowed this to happen.

[ABXNOMORE]

07:31 AM on 03/11/2011

This is not only very sad but really embarrassing. So much for American the Beautiful!

[sioux01721]

07:21 AM on 03/11/2011

And Haley Barbour, the governor of Mississippi, is thinking of running for president.
Wow. Just. Wow.

[mtrem]

08:22 AM on 03/11/2011

Ain't that the truth!!!!!!