Poor sex education and outreach is to blame for HIV increase in Arizona, advocates say.
State health department data shows HIV transmissions up by almost 20%, going the opposite way of the nation where the virus is slowing.
A state health department report released last December shows that HIV transmissions in Arizona have grown to alarming numbers, bucking national trends where the virus is declining across most of the country. And while advocates and health providers say there needs to be more work done on the ground, experts working in the field almost unanimously believe that the state’s poor sex education curriculum is playing a heavy-handed role in the trend.
Since 2020, overall transmission rates increased by 20% last year with new HIV disproportionately affecting Black and Latino populations. The increase in people diagnosed with HIV or AIDS was mostly among men who have sex with other men, but the state department's data showed there was also an increase for Black and Hispanic females, a demographic that long has been seen as “safe” from the virus.
Craig Crabtree, an HIV care continuum manager for Maricopa County at Valleywise Health, said in order to make meaningful strides in reducing HIV transmissions there needs to be better education surrounding sexual health. He also said that governments and health providers need to be knowledgeable about treatments available to suppress HIV in patients to undetectable levels—which is when transmission of the virus is almost impossible.