skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Saturday, September 30, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Educators preserve, shape future with 'ALT NEW COLLEGE'; NY appeals court denies delay for Trump civil fraud trial; Michigan coalition gets cash influx to improve childcare.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A House Committee begins its first hearing in the Biden impeachment inquiry, members of Congress talk about the looming budget deadline and energy officials testify about the Maui wildfires.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

A small fire department in rural Indiana is determined not to fail new moms and babies, the growing election denial movement has caused voting districts to change procedures and autumn promises spectacular scenery along America's rural byways.

Minnesota Makes Bold Moves to Eliminate HIV/AIDS

play audio
Play

Monday, June 10, 2019   

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota has introduced aggressive new measures to end HIV and AIDS in the state.

The Minnesota Department of Health reports about 300 new cases of the human immunodeficiency virus are confirmed each year. That's well below rates in Southern states, where more than half of the nearly 40,000 new HIV cases were reported in 2017.

Christine Jones, section manager with the Minnesota Department of Health, said the goal is to reduce HIV diagnoses in Minnesota at least 25% by 2025, and 75% by 2035.

"If you were to look at a graph of our statistics, while our new infections have stayed pretty stable - like I said, around that 300 - we are seeing the number of deaths decrease dramatically,” Jones said.

Minnesota's new program, END HIV MN, aims to prevent new infections, increase the level of care for people who are HIV-positive, and ensure that people who are diagnosed have stable housing and coordinated treatment.

Once considered a death sentence, new medications have made HIV more manageable to live with since the first case of AIDS was reported here in 1984. Jones said the goal of the new plan is to make sure that 90% of Minnesotans who have tested positive for HIV know their status.

"We have the tools, and now it's time to say, ‘OK, how can we comprehensively look at our state, put a strategy in place, to actually use these tools in the most effective way?’” Jones said. “You know, it's a whole different story than it was a couple decades ago."

It's estimated about half of all young people living with HIV in the United States don't use life-saving medication because they either can't afford it or don't know they're infected, because they haven't been tested. In recent years, preventive drugs also have been introduced for those who think they are at risk of contracting the virus.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Michigan is among 20 states to receive a multiyear grant from the Pritzker Children's Initiative. (SneakyPeakPoints/peopleimages.com/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

The coalition known as "Think Babies Michigan" has secured more than $36 million in funding to offer grants to child-care providers for infants and to…


Social Issues

play sound

Nearly 100 school board elections are coming up in Minnesota this fall, with some gaining attention because of the candidates who are running…

Social Issues

play sound

The so-called conservative "hostile takeover" of a small, progressive liberal arts college in Florida is seeing some resistance from former students …


Only 546 of the tenants in the the 5,563 eviction cases filed in Nebraska in the first half of 2023 were represented by legal counsel. (tab62/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

High rent prices are draining the budgets of many Nebraska renters, who are paying between 30% and 50% of their income on rent. In some parts of the …

Social Issues

play sound

As the federal government nears a shutdown over a budget impasse in Congress, Wisconsin offices that help low-income individuals worry they'll have …

Lewiston, Idaho, sits on the Snake River at the border with Washington. (Guy Sagi/Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Indigenous leaders are traveling through the Northwest to highlight the plight of dwindling fish populations in the region. The All Our Relations …

Social Issues

play sound

Washington performs well in a new report scoring states' long-term care systems. The Evergreen State ranked second in AARP's Long-Term Services and …

Social Issues

play sound

A lack of housing options, mental-health challenges and a lack of connections and support have combined to drive an uptick in the number of foster …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021