Dougherty County leaders shocked by STD/HIV numbers

ALBANY — Officials with the Southwest Public Health District offered some alarming statistics concerning the impact of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in the the county during the Dougherty County Commission’s business meeting Monday morning.

District Director Dr. Charles Ruis and Jacqueline Jenkins, an epidemiologist, provided sobering numbers during a PowerPoint presentation for the commission. Among them:

— Of 2,470 new chlamydia cases reported in the Southwest Health District in 2015, 40 percent of those cases (961) were Dougherty County residents;

— Of 496 new cases of gonorrhea in the district, 40 percent (195) were in Dougherty County;

— Of the 90 new syphilis cases in the district, 63 percent (56) were in Dougherty County;

— The 48 HIV cases diagnosed in Dougherty County in 2014 ranked the county second in the state.

“We’re primarily talking about our youths and teens,” Jenkins said. “Seventy-six percent of all STD cases in Dougherty County are people between the ages of 15 and 24 years old. And 87 percent of syphilis and HIV cases in the county are among young black men.

“Our study shows 3 of 50 teens in Dougherty County are infected with an STD. That’s 6 percent of that population. According to our school system, that means 6 percent of 7,000 students who fall into that age group are affected.”

Another number mentioned by Ruis left commissioners calling for communitywide involvement. The health director said a new funding formula that will be implemented by the state starting in 2019 will cut $300,000 from Dougherty County’s Health Department budget. That number, while shocking, turned out to be inaccurate.

Health District Public Information Officer and Risk Communicator Carolyn Maschke sent an email after the meeting correcting that total to $579,000.

“These stats are pretty alarming; we’ve got a documented problem,” District 4 Commissioner Ewell Lyle said. “But we’ve got another problem coming with the new funding formula that the state will be using. That formula (provides funding) based on population, and we’re going to be one of the biggest losers of funding in the state.

“We need to start talking with our state (legislative) delegation about this. We need to start acting on this oncoming problem.”

Ruis said the cuts to the local budget will be based on population, poverty share and poverty rate.

“These numbers are disturbing to me and should be disturbing to everyone,” District 6 Commissioner Anthony Jones said. “This is a red flag that should generate community involvement, by our schools and our faith-based community. We need volunteers; we need boots on the ground on this.”

Also at Monday’s meeting, the commission:

— Approved Yancey Brothers of Albany’s $269,617 bid for a motorgrader;

— OK’d the Reed Nissan (of Clermont, Fla.) bids of $28,202 for a Pathfinder and a $25,253 for a Frontier;

— Signed off on low bids by Wade Ford (of Smyrna) for a herbicide truck ($134,872) and three cargo vans ($84,774 total);

— Approved a resolution authorizing the Southwest Regional Commission to file a renewal of application for a public transportation assistance grant.