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Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; CA state lawmakers take action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

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Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

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During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

World AIDS Day highlights progress, challenges in fighting HIV in NC

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Friday, November 29, 2024   

World AIDS Day is Dec. 1, a time to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS and the progress made in fighting it.

Here in North Carolina, more than 37,000 people are living with HIV and last year saw more than 1,400 new cases, according to state health officials.

Anthony Petro, associate professor of religion and women's, gender and sexuality studies at Boston University, said we have come a long way in treating the disease and the way we talk about it matters just as much. He observed diseases like HIV/AIDS often get wrapped up in politics and societal judgment, which can affect both public understanding and even scientific research.

"When you think about public health itself, it is the application of medicine to a public and that depends upon us knowing who the public is that we care about," Petro explained.

Petro recalled the early years of the AIDS epidemic brought questions about whether the imagined "American public" included certain groups such as queer people, sex workers and IV drug users. He recounted in the absence of "state support," local activists helped advance the movement. He contended it was only when medical researchers decided it was a virus that it gained a level of "prestige" and funding started to flow. Petro noted today, access to reproductive and transgender health care are issues currently walking a moral-political line.

President-elect Donald Trump has picked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. Petro emphasized Trump's selection has concerned public health experts as Kennedy has expressed a level of suspicion about whether HIV truly causes AIDS. He has instead suggested recreational drugs called "poppers" could be the real reason, which the medical community said is false.

Petro, like others, acknowledged a lot of work is still needed, related to HIV prevention and treatment.

"To hear someone today in 2024, thinking about those kind of conspiracy theory approaches to thinking about HIV and AIDS, is certainly troubling but it is not new," Petro stressed. "I think we do have a very good infrastructure for HIV/AIDS care."

Petro encouraged people to learn more about tools like pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, which can prevent HIV before exposure. In North Carolina, making PrEP more accessible could help lower new infection rates, especially in communities that are most affected. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said most insurance plans, including Medicaid, are required to cover PrEP with no out-of-pocket costs.


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