HIV’s Threat to Rural America
The possibility of a new public health problem looms large where the opioid epidemic hit hardest.
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Episode Notes
Two maps can help tell the story of a looming public health problem in rural America. One, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows 220 of the most vulnerable counties in America either experiencing or at risk of an HIV outbreak. The other, published by the Washington Post, shows where pharmaceutical companies sent most of their pain pills at the height of the opioid crisis. These maps almost perfectly match up. And in Cabell County, West Virginia, a place acutely affected by the opioid crisis, 80 new cases of HIV have been diagnosed since last year. On the show, what’s going on in West Virginia, and what can be done to help?
Guests: A. Toni Young, AIDS activist and founder of the Community Education Group. Dr. Steven W. Thrasher, professor of journalism and LGBTQ health at Northwestern University. He recently wrote an op-ed in the New York Times.
Podcast production by Mary Wilson, Jayson De Leon, Danielle Hewitt, and Mara Silvers.
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