FLINT (WJRT) -
(03/07/13) - It's not something most people want to talk about, but Mid-Michigan health leaders say HIV and AIDS is a big problem in our community. Thursday, a special event was held to help raise awareness about the problem and find solutions.
Destiny Flynn was one of the many people to attend the Women's & Girls Health Awareness Conference at Metropolitan Baptist Tabernacle in Flint.
"When you educate yourself, it helps to be able to tell others about what's going on around them and how to protect themselves," Flynn said.
Church leaders, health officials, young and old came together for the health expo and conference to raise awareness about HIV and AIDS, something they say is a major problem. Tamara and Bettina Campbell with the "Your Center" say 700 people in Genesee County are living with HIV and AIDS, but the number could be much higher.
"Those are the numbers we know because those are the numbers being reported but often times those numbers go unreported. The CDC has said if you times that by 10, you will have the number of people are actually living with or infected by HIV," said Bettina Campbell.
This gathering comes just days after the nation learned the first known baby to be born with HIV has been functionally cured. While many are praising the news, others say we should celebrate with caution.
"My concern is that people are just going to hear the cure without listening to the "functionally" part. And what that means is that the viral load which is the copy of HIV antibodies in a person's body is so low that the test we currently have right now are not sophisticated enough to actually detect HIV is someone body," said Tamara Campbell.
