LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nevada ranks 5th in the country for the number of people testing positive for HIV.
A prevention summit is underway in Las Vegas to help shed light on the growing number of cases.
"Any number is alarming, even one number can make a difference," said Dr. Leana Ramirez at The Center, serving the LGBTQ community of Nevada.
Dr. Ramirez says in the firs two months of this year, The Center saw four people test positive for HIV. She says the number of people annually here in southern Nevada who are testing positive, is keeping the valley experts on high alert.
"The fact that Las Vegas is a very transient town, we have to take care of not only our population," she said. "But we have to take care of the people who visit us."
Just last year, Dr. Ramirez says The Center tested more than 10,000 people. Within that population, more than 100 tested positive for HIV.
"Most of the transmissions are by people who don't know their status, or don't realize that they have HIV," she said.
Nevada's ranking for HIV cases makes up nearly 17% of HIV infections nationwide according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and recent data on the burden of HIV in the U.S. shows 48 countries have more than 50% of new HIV diagnoses.
Clark County is listed among them.
"The numbers are fairly steady," said Terrell Parker, project manager of the National Minority Aids Council. "We are not making as big of an impact as we would like."
Parker says the alarming trends and numbers in Clark County highlight the needs for a Biomedical HIV Prevention Summit in the valley. This provides more information about treatment and prevention to local health experts and to help them answer a major question, "how do we end the HIV epidemic in our community?"
"Because it looks different in every community, the HIV epidemic looks different in every community, stigma looks different, and politics look different," he said. Parker is HIV positive himself, he says he understands the stigma that surrounds the disease.
Dr. Ramirez says she is doing her part to better educate the Las Vegas community.
"Not stigmatizing sex, not stigmatizing treatment for sex, not stigmatizing HIV and other diseases," she said. "We need to normalize this more in our health care science."
