HIV Is Moving From Cities To Rural Communities

Published June 9, 2015 at 12:12 PM EDT

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Signs are displayed for the needle exchange program at the Austin Community Outreach Center in Austin, Indiana, on April 21, 2015. A genetic analysis of HIV samples taken from about half the people infected in the largest HIV outbreak in Indiana history shows nearly all of them have the same strain of the virus, a finding one health expert says is a sobering reminder of how rapidly HIV can spread among intravenous drug users. (Darron Cummings/AP)

HIV was once a virus that flourished in cities, but it has been moving to rural areas. The small town of Austin, Indiana, is the site of one outbreak.

Some 23 percent of the town’s population lives below the poverty line, and substance abuse and intravenous drug use are a major problem. Since December, 150 people have been diagnosed with HIV, raising concerns of public health officials and the state government.

Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, talks with Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson about what can be done to prevent rural HIV outbreaks like the one in Austin, Indiana.

Politico: Welcome to the Red State HIV Epidemic

Guest

Jennifer Kates, vice president and director of global health and HIV policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation. She tweets @jenkatesdc.

HIV Is Moving From Cities To Rural Communities

Guest

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