Rights at Risk : State Response to HIV in Mississippi

M. MacLemore

In Mississippi, harsh socio-economic conditions place people at high risk of acquiring HIV and make it difficult to access adequate treatment and support. Yet instead of promoting policies that might ameliorate these conditions, the state provides inadequate support and even actively opposes interventions that could make a difference to the health and lives of people living with HIV and AIDS. Mississippis current approach to HIV is inconsistent with both public health and human rights imperatives. Mississippi continues to ignore evidence-based recommendations for comprehensive sex education, requiring abstinence before marriage to be the primary message delivered to a student population that is reporting the highest rates of sexually transmitted disease and teen pregnancy in the country. The state criminalizes failure to disclose HIV status despite recommendations to the contrary from national and international health and HIV experts. HIV Infection among young black men who have sex with men is increasing at an alarming rate, yet efforts to reach out to this population are undermined by anti-gay laws and policies that keep them underground and away from public health services. Mississippi promotes a culture of homophobia that, according to state public health officials, endangers the health of gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men by keeping them away from HIV testing and treatment services.