H.I.V. Crisis Facing Black Women in Atlanta [Video]

The AIDS rate is increasing so fast among black women in Atlanta that one local news station, 11 Alive News, is sounding the alarm.

Research shows African-American women, many living in Atlanta, are being infected with HIV — so much so that the new cases are being compared to African countries, according to 11 Alive News.

Data collected in 2009 from the health departments in Clayton, Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Douglas and Gwinnett counties indicates infection rates of HIV and AIDS, respectively, as follows:

Fulton: 4,213 and 7,342

DeKalb: 3,257 and 3,983

Clayton: 847 and 943

Cobb and Douglas: 1,030 and 1,288

Gwinnett: 884 and 1,041

In another study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control, black women make up 60 percent of all new HIV cases. That’s 15 times higher than white women and four percent higher than Hispanic women.

But studies also show black women are no more likely than women of other races to engage in risky behaviors.

So what’s the problem? We went searching for some answers.

“I sat back and it’s like he stole my life,” said Terri Gardner of Cartersville. “I wanted him dead.” Why? “Because now — you have not only taken my life. Who wants somebody that’s HIV positive?”

Gardner, 55, said she was robbed by the man she says infected her with HIV.

“He had my heart and it seems like he just got it and did what he wanted to do and that’s what he did,” said the mother of four, adding that it all came as a surprise.

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